


Black Heaven: the Novelization

by Patient_Colva



Category: MapleStory
Genre: Gen, I Tried, Novelization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-05 08:59:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15167204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patient_Colva/pseuds/Patient_Colva
Summary: My attempt at novelizing the first Blockbuster of Maplestory. Hope you enjoy.





	1. Act 1: Éminence Grise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting new intel from Ten Boogies, the Alliance went to Edelstein to get more information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first try on writing fanfic, just for fun. Sit back and enjoy.

5 days before the operation, Black Wings Aerial Base

 

Clear night sky blanketed the isle where Edelstein was located. A lone flying ship hovered hundreds of metres above Verne Mine, the homebase of Black Wings, an evil organization. The exterior design of the ship was a telltale sign of its origins. Inside the ship, four figures could be seen wearing parachutes, preparing themselves to jump off the ship. A hatch opened for them to jump, the howling wind rang into their ears.

 

“You go first, brother,” a glasses-wearing bird with an archer hat, bearing a Cygnus Knight insignia pointed at his brother. 

 

“No, you threw late, Dolphy,” the said brother replied, displeased with Dolphy’s suggestion.

 

“I didn’t! If you don’t believe me, let’s do another round!”

 

“Fine. Another round.”

 

“Ok! Rock, paper, scissors!” they threw their hands at each other.

 

However, his brother did not seemed satisfied with the outcome of the match, “You threw late again! You cheater!” 

 

“A cheater? You called me a cheater?” Dolphy looked offended. 

 

Goofy clearly regretted his outburst and apologized to him, “Sorry, I went too far.”  Although he quickly took it back as Dolphy replied with a gleeful tone.

 

“I’m not a cheater, I’m THE cheater! Hehehe!”

 

Goofy was about to retorted when both of them was shoved aside by one of the two who was watching the scene silently, the irritation was clear in her speech, “It will be daybreak if this goes on,” the peach-coloured bird then proceeded to jump off the ship. 

 

The brothers watched as she disappeared into the darkness. Goofy turned to Dolphy and said, “...I told you to behave.” He quickly followed and jumped off after her.

 

Dolphy let out a sigh and turned to the only human in the ship. “Are you ready, Captain? It's an honour to be with you. I heard from Empress Cygnus that you’re strong. I haven’t introduce myself. I'm Dolphy. The one that jumped earlier is big brother Goofy and our younger sister Leafy.” 

 

He pointed at the missing person poster of a ginger-haired girl on one of the walls and continued, “Ten Boogies should be fine. You will be leading this rescue mission.”

 

He walked up to the opened hatch and said, “How about a little stretch? I’ll take my leave, join us when you’re ready!” And so he jumped off into the night. 

 

The figure walked up to the opening, revealing a male in his late teens, his chin-length brown hair billowed in the wind, his normally fair skin looks paler under the moonlight and emerald green eyes looked down at the dark mountainous landscapes. He was wearing a tan dress shirt, dark brown pants, and a brown sleeveless long coat that reached his knees. His attire consisted various earth tones, with the exception of his black boots, fingerless gloves and belt with a silver buckle that secured his coat. His sword was also kept at his waist, golden hilt and silver blade glinting dangerously. Yong was the one of the elite members of the Maple Alliance, as he was a skilled warrior that even rivalled the Chief Knights of Cygnus. As a result, he was sometimes given missions directly from the Empress and eventually befriended her.

 

He took a deep breath before jumping out of the hatch. He then pulled the latch to release the parachute to soften his landing. Near the mine entrance, two guards could barely reacted as the Ereve Bowmen trio quickly knocked them out. Behind them, Yong landed with a soft thud and quickly get the parachute off his back. He walked up to the trio, who were waiting for their captain of the operation to give out the orders at the entrance.

 

“Shall we go, Captain?” Goofy asked. 

 

“Let's go.” Yong nodded at him and led the trio into Verne Mine, starting their rescue mission.

 

..................

 

In the mine, security robots heavily patrolled the area, leaving no room to slip past them without alerting the enemy. Rescuing Ten Boogies was their priority, so they wasted no time and destroyed all the robots as quickly as they could and pressed forward. 

 

“Ten Boogies must be held captive here somewhere.” Goofy looked around the area.

 

“How did she even get caught? It’s not her first day as an informant.” Dolphy was confused.

 

“It seems she was investigating  **something dangerous** .”

 

“Those evil Black Wings... What are they scheming now?” Leafy was shaking at the thought.

 

Yong thought for a moment.  _ She’s right. Ten Boogies never got caught before. Did she found something that the enemies doesn’t want anyone to know?  _ He shook his head and focused on the mission.

 

The group continued deeper into the mine. As they approached the center, they saw something was waiting for them. Yong was not surprised to see Dargoth, one of the commanders of Black Wings waiting for them at the end of the room, since they caused a lot of ruckus.

 

“About time! Your journey ends here and now!” his loud voice rang throughout the tunnels. 

 

All of them were prepared to fight, but Dolphy focused on another matter. “No way, the rock just talked!” he shouted. 

 

“What, a talking bird!” Dargoth was equally confused, but immediately recomposed himself to battle the four intruders. The fight was ended quickly and he retreated.

 

The four continued and reached a chamber with a giant tube going upwards, the door locked with a password. The door had a keypad to enter the password. They found a note near the door with a code written on it: 9610 and an upside down bunny drawn at the corner of the note. They quickly deduced that the code was in fact upside down, and they entered 0196 into the keypad. The door opened to reveal thick, long wires going all the way up. 

 

“Yes, we’re geniuses, Captain!” Dolphy cheered. 

 

“You did nothing, Dolphy,” Goofy rolled his eyes. 

 

Leafy looked at the wires, “I think can climb up the wires.” Yong began to climb the wires and the other followed behind him.

 

The climb was quite uneventful other than avoiding the electrical sparks that came out of the worn outer layer of the wire. Out of the blue, Dolphy suddenly spoke. 

 

“Brother, do you remember a woman called Belle from the Resistance?”

 

Yong thought back at the woman with ginger hair, sporting a ponytail and rode a black jaguar into battle.  _ She was brave, if not a bit violent _ . 

 

Goofy replied, “Yeah, she called us talking chickens.”  _ Now that was unexpected, since it was clear they are not chickens. _ Dolphy rambled on. 

 

“Yeah, talk about a nasty attitude. How could she mistook us as chickens?! We look nothing like them! They lay eggs then forget about it. Unlike us!” Dolphy then said, “I want to go home and have a bath.”

 

Leafy sighed, “Brother, please stop talking and keep climbing.”

 

Silent fell as she made her statement and the climb resumed. 

 

A second later, Dolphy asked, “Do you remember Belle from the Resistance?” Leafy corrected him, “Brother, we talked about her earlier!” 

 

“Oh, um…” 

 

The awkwardness in the air was cut off as a loud bang was heard from a distance. Leafy was alarmed by it. “What is that sound?” 

 

“Goofy just farted,” Dolphy answered unhelpfully. Goofy was not pleased. “...I didn't!” Both Leafy and Yong sighed internally. 

 

Soon, they reached the top. They got out to find a dark room, two lamps being the only source of illumination. Someone was tied by chains and suspended from the ceiling, clearly unconscious, it was--

 

“We found her! Ten Boogies!” Goofy notified. 

 

“I'm glad that she's okay.” Leafy sighed in relief. 

 

Yong looked around and felt that something isn't right.  _ Why is this place so dark? Is there something in here?  _ Goofy shared the sentiment, “What is this space for?” 

 

“No time for that, let's rescue the hostage.” 

 

The siblings to huddle together and they stood on top of each other, forming a tower. “Captain, climb on top of us and break the chains!” 

 

Yong was quick to get at the top and started cutting the chains with his sword. It took a while, but they managed to cut her restraints and Ten Boogies fell into a heap. The fall woke her up and she groaned in pain. 

 

They surrounded her to check on her. “Ten Boogies, can you hear us?” Leafy asked worriedly. Ten Boogies looked at them, was confused for a moment, before her eyes shot up as if realising something important. “N-No, it is dangerous here! Run!” Ten Boogies shouted.

 

Suddenly, flashes of red flickered ominously in the darkness, it almost looked like hundreds of eyes looking at them. Brightness filled the room to reveal countless rows of androids glaring at them. They all gaped at the scene in front of them, unsure of how to react. 

 

A loud bang rang throughout the room and all of them turned to find a giant machine four times their height. Its black metal body sat on top of tank tracks, allowing it to move. The front side of the body seemed to resemble a face, as its giant red eyes took up the top part of its feature, looking down at the five. However, the scariest part of this machine would be the opening that looked like its mouth that took up the remainder of the front. The mouth contained two large rollers that could flatten its prey into oblivion and the blades sticking out did not help either. Smoke sprouted out of the side, making it looked more menacing. Fear slowly creeped onto them, and they just stood there, stunted in silence. Dolphy was the first to break the silence.

 

“Ah, what is that?!” Goofy looked at Dolphy like he owed him tons of mesos. “See, I TOLD you it wasn't me.” 

 

“That is not important now!” 

 

Leafy blurted out the same thing everyone was thinking at that time. 

 

“Run!” 

 

And so everyone quickly made their escape. Goofy carried Ten Boogies, who passed out and followed the others. The machine roared and chased after them. “Run, it's right behind us!” The statement seemed to help little in the situation, as the machine was getting closer at their tails. 

 

Suddenly, something fell from the ceiling and narrowly missed Dolphy’s hat. He panicked, but did not stop running. “Ah, something grazed my hat!” Leafy looked up and noticed stalagmites started falling upon them. It seemed the tremors caused by that machine made the structure of the caves to weaken. She warned, “A stalagmite! Look out!” Yong fastened his pace and took the lead, knocked and sliced the stalagmites that came close at them with his sword. 

 

The machine roared once again amd charged at them, narrowly missing Dolphy. “Ah, I think it hit my butt!” Leafy, who was right behind him assured him that his butt was still intact. She then turned to Goofy, “Brother, is Ten Boogies?” “Honestly, she seems to be in the best condition in this situation!” Dolphy looked at the unconscious Ten Boogies enviously. 

 

After what seemed to be forever, they saw their exit at a distance. Goofy shouted, “Almost there! I can see the exit!” “What exit?! All I see is a cliff!” Dolphy exasperated, but Leafy seemed to know what Goofy was thinking. “That's our exit!” 

 

All of them made their way out of the mine and hastily jumped off the cliff. The machine bursted out of the mine and stopped at the edge, less it fell to its own demise. Out of nowhere, the flying ship from earlier emerged from beneath the cliff and steered away from the mine.

 

Back on the ship, they all panted heavily to catch their breath after their tiring escape from the death trap. After managed to calm down, they recollected their thoughts. 

 

“Whew, we made it out alive...What did we just saw?” Dolphy shuddered at the thought, and Leafy took charge. “A huge pulveriser, and countless of robot soldiers...” 

 

Goofy shook his head, “No, that’s not all. There’s **something** **scarier**. ” 

 

“...Let’s hurry back to Cygnus.”

 

They seconded her suggestion, and the ship made its way back to Ereve.

  
  
  


4 days before the operation, Ereve

 

“You’re here. I hope your journey here is pleasant.” 

 

It was daytime by the time he reached Ereve. As soon as he arrived at the port of the floating island, he was greeted by the stone-faced tactician of the Empress, Nineheart. Even though Cygnus was the one of the leaders of the Alliance, he was usually the one giving out orders. He returned a greeting to Nineheart, which he acknowledged. “Let talk about the details on the way. The Empress was waiting for you. Follow me.” 

 

He started walking down a path and Yong followed him closely. 

 

“How’s Ten Boogies?”

 

“Ten Boogies is fine, she brought  **important information** .” Yong gulped at his words,  _ this can’t be good. _

 

On the way, he was greeted by Goofy, Dolphy and Leafy respectively. They seemed excited to see him again.

 

“Great work, the last mission was impressive.”

 

“Hey, Captain, is your butt okay? My tail is hinged.”

 

“Please send my regards to the Empress.”

 

He responded accordingly and continued his way down the path. Nineheart led him to a white bridge with intricate design and a golden arch. On the bridge, stood a regal figure with long wavy blonde hair, her light blue eyes gave out warmness. Her overall look reeked elegance and confidence. Empress Cygnus turned to face them and smiled.

 

“Welcome, Yong. I must apologise for having you to lead a tough mission on such a short notice.” She walked down the bridge and greeted him.

 

“But you’re the only one I could think of. Are you alright?” 

 

“I’m stronger than you think,” Yong reassured.

 

“ _*Chuckle*_ , I knew I could count on you,” Cygnus smiled at him, in which he returned it with his own smile.

 

………………

 

“As you surely know, the Black Mage, the source of all evil in Maple World has returned.”

 

They made their way to the meeting conference room to find Athena Pierce, the bowman instructor of Victoria Island and the representative of the Adventurers was already seated at the table. After finding their seats, Athena Pierce started the meeting.

 

“However, for unknown reasons, he hadn’t been active.”

 

“Why hasn’t he done anything?” Yong thought back at the time when Maple Island was destroyed. While it was true that Black Mage done it, he did not hear much about him after that.

 

“We don’t know the exact reason, but we believe that he hasn’t regain his full power yet.”

 

“If Black Mage regains his powers…”

 

“It would be too late, then. Maple World would be shrouded by darkness once again. We have to stop him now.” Athena Pierce stopped for a moment before continuing, “Black Wings was an organization founded to revive the Black Mage. They made Edelstein their base, and swore loyalty to the Black Mage. It is clear what must be done. To defeat the Black Mage, we must defeat the Black Wings.”

 

Nineheart looked solemn all of a sudden. “What we’re about to say next must be kept among us.” 

 

His eyes scanned across the room before continuing, “We have been watching the Black Wings. Through our listening and monitoring devices, we’re able to foil their plans. However, they seem to notice us. Now they use codes to communicate.” 

 

He then placed a newspaper clipping on the table. The crossword puzzle had ‘SAVE’, ‘CHILDREN’, ‘LAY’ and ‘BAKER’ written on it. The ‘R’s and ‘L’s were shared.

 

“Recently, this code was by posted by Black Wings Leader Gelimer. It’s was on Edelstein Daily News. Isn’t this suspicious? At first, the words seem to hide some sort of meaning. But I was able to decipher the code after Informant Ten Boogies brought in a table with codes. The word itself actually has no meaning. It is an anagram, a rearrangement of letters. Decoded, it reads…”

 

He brought out a paper slip for the others to look at. On it, bold black words were written: B-L-A-C-K-H-E-A-V-E-N-I-S-R-E-A-D-Y.

 

“BLACK HEAVEN IS READY. Black Heaven is ready?” Yong looked genuinely confused.

 

“Black Heaven…… What are they referring to?” Cygnus seemed worried.

 

“We must find out, but how?” Athena Pierce was deep in thought.

 

Nineheart thought for a while, before saying, “There’s only one that might know.”

 

Cygnus looked shocked as she turned to Nineheart, “Only one...Are you talking about  _ her _ ?”

 

Athena Pierce agreed with him, “She was a Black Wings member... _ She _ might know something.”

 

“But her current condition had made her unable to talk.”

 

Nineheart’s word laced with finality, “We must find out, no matter what.”

  
  
  


3 days before the operation, Edelstein, the suppressed city

 

The sun shone brightly upon Edelstein and the citizens’ lives went on normally. However, no one seemed to notice the movement several feet below the city. An underground storage had been repurposed to house and train Resistance members to retake their beloved city from the Black Wings. Now, every present member of the Resistance did not take their eyes off of the newcomers that was made up by Cygnus, Nineheart and Yong, air thicked with tension.

 

“So, this is the Resistance base.” Nineheart took in the layout of the base, which was normal since the Cygnus Knights and the Resistance were not on the best terms.

 

“You Knights! Pay attention!” Claudine, the leader of the Resistance shouted at the tactician, drawing everyone’s attention. Her disdained look septed through her mask. She then gestured them to follow her. “Orchid is this way. Follow me.”

 

She led them to the infirmary, where a Cygnus Knight and a Resistance member were stationed there, along with wildhunter instructor Belle and magician instructor of Victoria Island Grendel the Really Old. A strange looking mirror was placed next to him.

 

On one of the beds, Orchid was unresponsive, her white long hair was let loose and it spilled all over her pillow. Bandages could be seen wrapped around her head. Belle spoke up.

 

“As you can see, she’s still unconscious.”

 

“Maybe if we hit her, she will wake up?” the Resistance member suggested, but Cygnus quickly shoot it down.

 

“She’s not an object. She shouldn’t be treated like that.”

 

“Hmph, how merciful. Just because she looks pitiful, she was forgiven? It’s true she was betrayed, but she is the former leader of Black Wings! We told you before, us Resistance are just aiding the Alliance. Don't order us around.” Nineheart sent Belle a sharp look.

 

“Is that so? I began to doubt your abilities to follow orders.”

 

“What? Are you done talking?”

 

“Stop fighting, everyone!” Cygnus interrupted their spat, but Claudine spoke up.

 

“Cygnus, we lost valuable comrades because of this woman. She is dangerous, and we can’t be merciful for her.”

 

“Even so, we can’t lose our humanity! We couldn’t be cruel just because they are! Yong, what do you think?” Cygnus turned to the warrior who was watching the scene unfolded. He was startled at first, but regained his composure. “The Empress is right. We must be more humane.” 

 

Cygnus smiled at him, “As excepted.”

 

Claudine let out a sigh, “Don’t worry, we won’t use harsh methods to get information.” 

 

She let Grendel took over, “Did you see this mirror? It could read people’s memories. Normally, it couldn’t approach other’s memories to protect their privacy. But with Orchid’s current state...It might be possible.” He looked at Yong expectantly, “You’re the most reliable with these tasks. So, are you ready? Will you enter? Into Orchid’s memories...”

 

Yong walked up to the mirror and placed a hand on the surface. It sank into the mirror like quicksand. He retracted his hand, before heading straight in.

 

………………

 

When Yong entered Orchid’s memories, he did not except to come face-to-face with a floating white bunny. With large maroon eyes and cute black collars, she looked like a plush doll.

 

“Ah, you gave me a fright! Who are you? You are the first person here other than me.” Apparently, she talked, too.

 

“I'm Yong, and you are?”

 

“Me? I protect Orchid’s memories. When monsters mess up her memories, I’m the one cleaning things up.”  _ So she is some sort of memory guide? Does everyone have one?  _ His train of thoughts was cut off when she continued, “You're the first person I've ever met. What's your purpose here?”

 

“I'm here to find something in Orchid's memories.”

 

Memory Guide’s eyes widen, “You want to see her memories?” He nodded. “Well, I wasn’t supposed to...But I’m bored. Allow me to guide you!”

 

She guided him out of the darkness and they arrived at a very dark forest. Chunks of crystals littered all over the place and lit up the forest just a bit.

 

“Orchid has been asleep for so long, her memories keep changing.” She flew to a tree, revealing a piece of fragment that did not aligned with the scenery. “Did you see that? Memory fragments go around like that, messing up her memories. If you want to see her memories, you need to put them all back together.”

 

“Got it.” Yong surveyed the area and began to rotate the pieces to align them properly. After fixing them, he waited, but nothing happened.

 

“Oh! Up there. There’s one left.” She pointed at a piece located on a floating land. He cocked his eyebrow.

 

“Sure, how to get up there?” She gave a confused look. “How to get up there? Orchid flew around here. You don’t know how to fly?” He shook his head. “Try to jump. When you see floating glittery stuff, you too can fly.”

 

He jumped and found himself flying towards the floating land.  _ This feels so weird.  _ He managed a wonky landing and fixed the remaining piece.

 

“Oh, you’re more competent than I... Huh? Nevermind.” She stopped mid sentence when he gave her a weird look. “Now we get to see Orchid’s memories. Let’s start with the older ones! I hope this is what you’re looking for.”

 

_ =Memories of a Spirit= _

 

A lone figure in white stood in the forest. He felt a presence near him. The blue jewel of his staff glowed dimly, as he looked around the area curiously. Suddenly, two spirits appeared in front of him, surrounded in dark energy. He did not flinched, instead he sported a neutral expression.

 

“It’s you.”

 

One of the spirits spoke in a disappointed tone, “What, you are no fun. I was going to scare you.” The other one spoke emotionlessly, “Normally humans get scared when they see us.”

 

A ghost of a smirk appeared on his face as he let out a low chuckle, “I’m no ordinary human.”

 

The first spirit let out a huff, “Why do you keep coming here? This place belongs to us.”

 

“Darkness doesn’t belong to anyone. It should exist everywhere.” 

 

“......What a strange human,” the serious spirit said.

 

The man in white chuckled, “You two are strange existences as well.”

 

The first spirit asked curiously. “Hey, what are existences?”

 

“It’s a feeling. To stand on your feet and get to know the world.”

 

The serious spirit spoke, “On our feet...? We don’t have legs.”

 

“Or hands, nor face,” the curious spirit sounded dejected. However, the man seemed undeterred.

 

“* _ Chuckle _ *, do you want to own a human body?”

 

The curious spirit immediately agreed at his suggestion, “Interesting! So what to do?”

 

“If you want, I will create your human body. If you two help in  **my research about darkness** .”

 

“Great! Please make us identical humans! Both of us must stay together!” 

 

“Let’s name you first. One will be Orchid, the other one will be Lotus. Do you like that?”

 

“Yeah, I like it!” 

 

The serious spirit was quiet all the time.

 

……………...

 

Memory Guide looked on with a sad expression, “... And that’s how Orchid and Lotus got bodies of twins. Perhaps this was the start of all tragedies… Where did it go wrong...? After gaining a human body, Lotus became more cruel.”

 

The scene warped and Yong found himself in another forest. Memory Guide seemed nervous, “You didn’t leave? The memory you saw earlier isn’t the one you seek?” He shook his head. “There are monsters here, it’ll be hard to see her memories.” She then looked confident. “But l’m here, so it’s okay. Let’s go!”

 

Yong went further into the forest. Unlike the first one, this forest was bright, but it was plagued with large thorny vines. The place was filled with flying jellies with bunny ears. A barrier could be seen at the end of the area. Memory Guide stopped abruptly.

 

“Wait. Where’s the box that keeps bunny dolls?” She looked around and pointed at somewhere near the barrier. “Over there. Did you see the number 20 written on it? 20 bunny dolls are needed to open the door. The Popping Jellies hid them.”  _ So those monsters are called Popping Jellies… Wait, focus!  _ He quickly sliced through the hoard of monsters and obtained the dolls. He placed them in the box and a door opened to reveal another barrier. This time, he collected 30 dolls instead and went past the barrier.

 

He found another jumbled piece and fixed it. Yong thought out loud, “Why would monsters have those bunny dolls?”

 

“Why? Because they are too cute? Don’t you feel the same when you look at me?... Why are you looking at me like that?” Yong threw her a deadpan look. “Hmm… Now let’s watch another memory. Watch closely to see if this is what you’re looking for.”

 

_ =Empress Aria’s Death= _

 

“I knew it… Humans are weak.”

 

A man with ivory hair floated a few centimetres above ground, purple eyes looking down at Empress Aria’s body with disinterest. HIs black cloak was the sign of allegiance to the Black Mage. Around them, bodies of fallen knights laid motionlessly, void of life. A woman with similar features appeared, pigtails flowing as she approached him. She eyed the fallen Empress from beneath her hat.

 

“Lotus? Didn’t you say not to kill the Empress?”

 

Lotus narrowed his eyes at his twin, “Orchid, are you feeling sorry for this toy?”

 

“No, it’s just… I can’t play with it if she’s killed.”

 

“Orchid, I’m tired of this toy. Humans are weak and fragile beings.”

 

“Commander… Lotus, Orchid…… You used to be pure spirits… Why did you help the Black Mage?”

 

The twins snapped their heads at the supposedly dead Empress. Her voice was weak, but determined.

 

“... It’s… still not too late. Stop fooling around. Please… treasure… this world.” 

 

With that, she fell silence. The twins looked at her body for a moment. Finally, Lotus broke the silence. “... Fascinating. She still have to energy to speak.”

 

………………

 

“Lotus had crossed the line. He called Empress Aria for a meeting, and murdered her in cold blood.” Memory Guide seemed unnerved by it, but Yong couldn’t blamed her. He heard that Empress Aria was assassinated during Black Mage’s reign. To witness it first hand however, he was shaken.

 

“Do you want to see the next memory? Orchid will be in pain if it’s brought up. Watching sensitive memories might be dangerous as well. Do you still want to continue?”

 

He nodded absentmindedly and the scene warped again. This time, it turned into a ruined temple. Pillars cracked and half toppled. Dark clouds loomed the surroundings and fire in the torches had extinguished. It seemed to be the Temple of Time in the past.

 

“I haven’t been here in a while. The monsters did increased.” She looked at the nearest memory fragment. “Oh, the pieces changed. Popping Jellies increased and tainted them. They’ll turn into Popping Jellies if this goes on. Let’s defeat 20 of them.”

 

Oddly enough, the fragments turned back to normal when the jellies decreased. A moment later, the pieces were fixed and the place was monster-free. 

 

“You fixed all the piece. You’re better than I thought!” She suddenly looked down, “But… This memory causes her pain. I’m worried…”

 

_ =Lotus’s Death= _

 

“Lotus… Lotus?!” Orchid cried out for her brother, too injured to move.

 

“He killed Aria. He must pay for it.”

 

Master Thief Phantom glared at the twin commanders, a dangerous aura surrounded him. The  murderous glint in his eyes were hard to miss. Orchid looked at Lotus’s body beside her, her sorrow slowly turned into rage.

 

“You killed Lotus..! Unforgivable!” Phantom looked at her with disinterest.

 

“Sorry, I don’t have time for you. My friends are now fighting the Black Mage.” He scoffed at them, “Listen up. This world isn’t your playground. There isn’t a place for you anymore in this world.” He then disappeared in a flurry of cards.

 

Orchid stared at where he stood before shaking his brother’s body. “Lotus… Wake up, Lotus… Are you broken? Will I not see you again?”

 

No one answered her. She looked at him emptyly. At that spot, she made a promise.

 

“Lotus… We must stay together. Even if it takes centuries, I’ll bring you back… No matter what.”

 

……………....

 

The memory faded into darkness and Yong felt a light tremor resonated the place. Memory Guide began to panic.

 

“Ah, I could feel Orchid’s pain! Danger! Danger!”

 

………………

 

Meanwhile, a tremor plagued the infirmary in the Resistance base. Everyone looked on in shock as objects around them began to float, feeling apprehensive.

 

“Things are… floating?” Claudine muttered in disbelieve.

 

“This… could it be  **Wing Master Orchid’s** power?” Nineheart carefully assessed the situation.

 

“Yong might be trapped in her memories! We must stop this now.” Cygnus urged Grendel.

 

“But we haven’t found a clue yet! Hurry up, Yong!”

 

………………

 

Yong once again got warped into a different location. Structure of a dark, dingy cave greeted him. Crates with the symbol of Black Wings were piled throughout the place. They were in Verne Mine. Memory Guide looked worried.

 

“Something isn’t right with Orchid’s consciousness. This might be the last memory you can see.”

 

He nodded at her. He travelled further and found another barrier blocking his path. Mentally groaning, he quickly cut down the flying jellies and collected 50 more bunny dolls. On the other side, he saw seven more fragments begging to be fixed. However, they all were outlined with seven different colours respectively. It looked like--

 

“There are seven colours, like a rainbow. You needed to hit them in the orders of a rainbow.”

 

He did as told and the memory was complete.

 

“Like I said, this is the last one. That means you are leaving…” She looked down on the floor, but then looked at him in the eye. “Well...I have Popping Jellies to keep me occupied. I’m just... afraid that you’ll miss me. Hopely this last memory is the you’re looking for.”

 

_ =Gelimer’s Research Lab= _

 

In a corner of Verne Mine, Orchid looked at the figure in a giant glass tube. Lotus’s body floated in the liquid-filled contraption, various devices and tubes connected to the glass prison.

 

“Lotus, you didn’t forget, right? Both of us must stay together. Now is the time to keep my promise.” She then turned to the scientist who just walked in.

 

“Baldie, will doing this bring Lotus back?”

 

“Don’t worry. With the power of this genius scientist, this level… Hehehe!” Gelimer reassured.

 

“How suspicious… You’re not thinking of tricking Orchid, right?”

 

“Why would I? Lotus will coming back to life, in a perfect form. Hehehe…”

 

“Hmph, if you lied, I’ll pull off your remaining hair.”

 

“Ah, I guess I’ll have to work hard. Hehehe… Oh right, I would like to propose something.” Gelimer’s smile suddenly grew wider. Orchid was confused, but listened on.

 

“It’s not much. I want to make a little airship.”

 

“An airship? Orchid doesn’t need airships. I can fly.”

 

“Not just an airship. It’s an powerful airship that could send the world into chaos. Just imagine it. If we have this toy, Lotus would be happy when he wakes up.”

 

This made Orchid interested. After thinking about it, she had her decision, “Hmm...Your choice. As long as Lotus can be saved, nothing else matter.”

 

“Then, please verify this document!” He brought out a blueprint with a crudely drawn layout of an airship with the shape of a shark.

 

“What’s this blueprint… ? Project Black Heaven?”

 

“That’s right, the airship that would destroy Maple World...is called the Black Heaven.” At that, he let out a low cackle as the scene slowly dissolved.

 

………………

 

Once Yong got out of the mirror, he relayed what he learned to the occupants of the room.

 

“The Black Heaven, an airship that will destroyed Maple World…!” Grendel gasped at the information given.

 

“We must make plans.” Claudine decided.

 

“We don’t know where will it strike, every village have to be prepared for defense.” Nineheart suggested on the spot. However, Cygnus had other plans.

 

“No, that’s not enough. We must show everyone that how strong Alliance is. If the enemy attacks from the skies, we will fight them in the skies.”

 

“If that’s so… then we need to hurry. I got a plan.” Nineheart led everyone out of the room to discuss it further.

 

Moments later, the heart monitor beeped steadily. Orchid furrowed her brows as she stirred a bit, seemingly in pain. Her voice was soft and weak.

 

“Lotus…”

 

………………..

 

At the same time, the Black Mage Commanders were having a meeting. Gelimer was talking to the two most loyal followers of Black Mage, Arkarium and Hilla.

 

“Is it fine? They figured out your plans,” said Arkarium.

 

“Doesn’t matter. They couldn’t stop Black Heaven anyway.” Gelimer beamed with confident.

 

“Being a commander isn’t easy. You know you might lose your life if you fail, right?”

 

“Humans are weak. Without surveillance, they are prone to fight each other. How could my unstoppable robot army lose to such inefficient beings? You might as well give me the position as a commander. Hehe, hehehe....”

 

Gelimer walked away, seemed excited. Arkarium looked at his retreating figure with distaste. “Such a shallow being… He got this anxious, just to get acknowledged by the Black Mage.”

 

“A tiny airship?” Arkarium turned to the skeptical voice. Hilla looked rather serious.

 

“What is it, Hilla?” 

 

“You should have seen Black Heaven. That is not just  **a tiny airship** . What does the mad scientist have in mind?”

  
  


_ To be continued…… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might noticed the dialogues are a bit different. I got the urge to write this as I was cross-referencing GMS, TMS and MapleSEA localisation of BH.
> 
> I tend to choose the two translations that are the most similar and write based on it. If not, it's mostly based on TMS with the other two as reference. Or based on my understanding. 
> 
> This was written just for fun. Pardon my rusty English.


	2. Act 2: To War, Crystal Garden!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their plans made, the Alliance took off into the skies to face Black Heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why Nexon never let us hit Cygnus? I would gladly hit that naive heiress in FS in the face.

 The day of the operation

 

On Victoria Island, a huge crowd had gathered near a giant white ship, fairy-like wings glistened under the morning sun at its bow. Their loud cheer drowned out any white noises, ready to see the occupants of the ship off to an upcoming war.

 

In the past two days, the Alliance buzzed with activity. After finalizing their strategy, Cygnus sent out hundreds of letters, gathering fighters from every corner of Maple World to join their cause. They also managed to contact Master Thief Phantom to lend them his crowning jewel, the Crystal Garden. With the help of the Resistance led by mechanic instructor Checky, they modified the flying cruiser into a proper battle airship. Even with powerful thrusters and crystal cannons adorning its feature, it still looked sleek and elegant.

 

Cygnus stood at the center of the ship, looking at the excited crowd with an unreadable expression. Nineheart walked up behind her, notifying her that the preparations had been completed. She dipped her head and laid out the orders.

 

“Crystal Garden, take off!”

 

The fairy wings stiffens and thrusters roared to the max. Crystal Garden lifted off into the skies, bringing the hundreds of fighters with it. The crowd became smaller and smaller until they were just a small speck on a window.

 

“The war is about to begin.” Cygnus shook her head.

 

“No, Nineheart. The war has already begun.” They looked at the thick sea of clouds, preparing to face the destructive airship, the Black Heaven.

 

……………...

 

Yong stood at the front deck of Crystal Garden, watching the clouds passed by as swiftly as they approached. A heavy fog shrouded the ship’s surroundings. Much like any other mission, he couldn’t help but to feel nervous about this operation. He felt like this mission was going to be difficult to accomplish. His mind wandered back to what happened before he headed off.

 

………………

 

_A large maple tree sat proudly at the top of a hill. Yong approached the rendezvous spot, falling maple leaves beckoned him. Four figures were standing under the tree, beaming at him. They were among those that he met when he first arrived at this island. They were present when he decided to be a warrior. They had been with him through thin and thick._

 

_They were his best friends._

 

_“You’re here, Yong,” Olivia put her White Nisrock bow away from her face to greet him._

 

_“We’re waiting for you,” Tess was the next to welcome him._

 

_“Especially Sugar,” Rondo told him with a straight face._

 

_“I- I was just worried,” the bishop stuttered. “Athena Pierce told me. You’re boarding the airship?”_

 

_“You guys aren’t coming along?” asked Yong._

 

_“It’s because the ship is full,” Olivia gave a face that said ‘it can’t be helped’, but Tess cut her off. “It’s because you’re the only one that improved the most.”_

 

_“Huh, and I thought that I had became stronger myself. What a pity,” Rondo scratched his head, clearly disappointed in himself._

 

_“Maple World is in danger, yet I couldn’t do anything…” lamented Olivia._

 

_For once, Tess tried to lighten up the atmosphere. He patted Olivia’s shoulder, “It’s alright, Yong will fight hard on our behalf. Don’t we had our mission on land as well?”_

 

_It did rid the awkwardness in the air. “Yeah, you’re right!” said Rondo._

 

_Yong reassured them, “I’ll fight on your behalfs.”_

 

_“Yong, thank you for fighting for the sake of Maple World all this time. We could give you buffs just like before.” Sugar beamed at him. He smiled at her enthusiasm. Olivia piped up._

 

_“Then I’ll start first, hehe!” the archer gave him a boost. A green light that resembled an eye rushed around him, and he felt his vision became clearer._

 

_“Haha, how embarrassing. Heh, I’m still not used to do this,” Tess waved his knuckle-wearing arm, and a surge of blue waves made him felt stronger._

 

_“These won’t last long, but just accept them as our gifts.” Rondo summoned a chant, and a kanji character appeared to help increased his speed._

 

_“Please return safely!” Sugar summoned two fairies, he felt safer._

 

_“I promised I’ll be back.”_

 

_………………_

 

Yong wondered if he could honor that promise. His train of thoughts derailed when he heard someone calling him from behind. He turned around to see Athena Pierce walking towards him. He went and greeted back at her. After commenting how large the Crystal Garden was, she addressed him.

 

“There’re strong enemies awaits us just beyond the fog.” She looked at the open skies, “Our enemies are strong, but we have powerful warriors, the Alliance will surely win. Don’t you think so, Yong?”

 

Yong paused at the question. Although he had his reservations, he decided it was not worth worrying Athena Pierce about it.

 

“We will win.”She nodded at his answer.

 

“As expected from the elite.” She then remembered something, “Oh, right. Nineheart is looking for you. He’s at the central deck.” He blinked at her and sighed mentally. _What does he want this time?_ He thanked her and made his way to the center of the ship.

 

………………..

 

_They’re still fighting at a time like this. Unbelievable._

 

Yong thought as he slowly walked to the main deck. Earlier, he found himself in a tight spot. The Cygnus Knights and the Resistance were at each other’s throat again with Chief Knight of Darkness Eckhart and Battle Mage Brighton watching on either sides. Apparently, someone had left their rations untended and a flock of sparrows ( _could sparrows even flew that high?_ ) had took them. Therefore, they were throwing blames and insults at each other. _Again._

 

Most Resistance members disliked the Cygnus Knights as much as they hated Black Wings. Long before the Alliance was formed, the Resistance asked them to help them defeat Black Wings. After agreeing to help them retaked Edelstein, Cygnus Knights had ‘failed’ to show up, according to them. Many died in the operation. The truth was, on that day, another Black Wings member, Black Witch Eleanor had led an invasion in Ereve and turned everyone into statues. As a result, the Cygnus Knights could not help the Resistance in time. Despite their best efforts to explain and reconcile with the Resistance, it was not enough to resolve the feud between them. As for the Cygnus Knights, the Resistance’s rudeness to their higher ups gave no reason to be nice with them. Even when they formed the Alliance with a common goal to stop Black Mage’s influence, the hostility still lingered. Thus, the Alliance meeting often ended up as a shouting match. It was tiring for those that were not involved. Poor Athena Pierce.

 

This became a normality among the Alliance, which was unnerving. Yong sincerely hoped this would not turned for the worst.

 

He decided to break them up and Brighton helped by telling them to focus on solving the problem and not to fight each other since they were on the same boat. Without a word, everyone scattered and began their sparrow hunting to get their rations back. Yong looked around the central deck, but could not find Nineheart. When he asked Brighton, this was his reply.

 

“Nineheart? The Knights’ strategist? He just went to the main deck.” Brighton stopped for a moment before continuing, “By the way, can you collect hardtacks and sugar stars on your way back? Everyone are working hard to get the rations back.”

 

 _I hope I don’t have to deal with them fighting,_ Yong thought before nodding. Brighton smiled.

 

“I’m counting on you.”

 

Yong went ahead and helped the Knights and Resistance members getting their rations. They seemed glad that someone on the third party had came to help them instead, even honored to witness a skilled fighter in action.

 

The entire ordeal was interesting, to say the least. Although some grumbled that about fighting measly sparrows, those fast flyers were proven to be a fine fighting practice. Some Resistance members even caught a few Knights munching on their hard-earned rations, and a short fight ensued. Even though they were fighting together, they still did not forget to insult each other. Yong sighed, _when will they ever learn?_

 

Moments later, Yong moves forward with hardtacks and sugar stars in his bag. He decided to hand these to Kyrin the pirate instructor, who commented the heavy fog was a rare occurrence. She insisted he had them instead because according to her, “Since you fight like 50 men, you should eat like them!” Therefore, his bag was 50 hardtacks and sugar stars heavier. He decided to ask Kyrin about Nineheart’s whereabouts.

 

“Nineheart? He got called up by Cygnus. Maybe at the Conference Room? His job would be needed there.”

 

After was given the directions, he thanked her and entered the inside of the ship. After that, he turned to the door at the west end. When he reached the Conference Room, he could heard Cygnus and Claudine discussing something, so he waited.

 

“The enemy haven’t been located yet?”

 

“The fog is too thick. We could determine their location with our naked eyes after a few hours.”

 

“What are the odds of a fight happened before then?”

 

Claudine continued, “Very likely. We shouldn’t underestimate the Black Wings. They would do anything to win.”

 

After they were done talking, he made himself known and noted that Nineheart was not present.

 

“Hello, Yong, what brings you here?” Cygnus turned towards him.

 

“I was told that Nineheart wants to see me, and you called for him.”

 

“No, I didn’t call for Nineheart. Are you sure they said it was me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

She thought for a moment and looked at him with a guarded look, “Do you know? There’s someone that could make disguises from the Black Wings.”

 

………………

 

_Nineheart called for a meeting with Cygnus before the ship disembarked. Nineheart told her something alarming._

 

_“The enemy would definitely use the same trick. They could take appearances as one of us and create infighting. During a battle, the Master of Disguise would be our toughest opponent. We must apprehend them first.”_

 

_“What are you going to do?” Cygnus's eyebrows furrowed._

 

_“If the enemy use this tactic, we’ll play along. Then we might be able to capture them.”_

 

_………………_

 

“...was what he said. But I have a bad feeling about this. Could you go look for Nineheart?” Yong agreed to help and Cygnus sent him to begin the search for the missing tactician.

 

Yong started his search in the corridors connected to the east end of the central hall, leaving no rock unturned. In the middle of his search, he heard noises coming from a room at the end of the corridor. He entered the cell room and was shocked to find two defeated knights, as well as…

 

_Two Ninehearts?! As if one isn’t enough-- Wait, one of them has to be the Master of Disguise._

 

He walked up to both of them, observing them closely. One was standing there looking at him, while the other one was on the ground, beaten but still conscious. He resisted the smirk on his face. _This is too easy._

 

He pointed his sword at the unharmed one, “You’re the fake one.”

 

“? Why did you think so?” not-Nineheart tilted his head in confusion.

 

“Nineheart would never win in a physical fight.” _Sorry Nineheart, but I doubt you would even win a fight against an orange mushroom,_ he apologised insincerely in his mind.

 

Both Ninehearts stared at him, one with disbelief and the other one with annoyance. A puff of smoke, and the not-Nineheart turned out to be Baroq the Master of Disguise. Yong quickly charged at him and threw a few heavy swings.

 

In the middle of the fight, Nineheart warned him about a surekill skill the enemy possessed.

 

Baroq teleported behind him and summoned a cage to him in a attempt to lock his attack. He dodged the attack and continued his assault. A few minutes later, Baroq was on the ground, panting heavily while Yong pointed his sword at his direction.

 

“* _Pant, pant_ * Wait, wait! I have something to say!” Yong cocked his eyebrow, but remained his stance.

 

“It’s… TRANSFORM!”

 

A puff of smoke, and Baroq’s look shifted into… _Cygnus?!_ ‘Cygnus’ smiled at him, and he started to feel uneasy.

 

“... Will you hit me?” ‘Cygnus’ said sweetly. He shook his head and raised his sword, “Yes.”

 

Suddenly, ‘she’ clasped her hands into a prayer and looked at him with watery, pleading eyes.

 

“Really? Are you really going to hit me?” His eye twitched at the scene unfolded in front of him. His mind told him it was Baroq’s disguise, but his eyes kept telling him otherwise, sending mixed signals throughout his body.

 

Even though his body was paralyzed, he still managed to blurted out, “Yes!”

 

‘Her’ face became more pitiful. There were even tears in her eyes. “Hgn? Really? _Really_?”

 

He then realised ‘she’ was stalling, so he decided to end the stalemate once and for all. Eyes closed, he prepared to swing his sword as hard as possible, “YES!”

 

Suddenly, he felt something struck at the back of his head. A sharp pain resonated through his head and his vision blurred. A gasp escaped his mouth as his grip on his sword loosen and it clattered onto the floor. His knees gave way and he collapsed in a heap. He vaguely saw another man with shades stood behind him with a wrench in hand. 'Cygnus’ sneered at the fallen warrior.

 

“ _*Chuckle*_ It’s too late to hesitate.”

 

That was the last thing he heard before passing out completely.

 

 

3 hours since the operation started, Black Wings’ attack

 

“..Wake up! Wake up!”

 

Yong’s head shot up and found himself being tied to a barrel with Nineheart. His sword was still on the ground. Various explosions could be heard from outside. The tactician spoke from the other side of the barrel.

 

“Can you hear that? A fight must have broke out on the deck.” His tone turned sharper, “I warned you. Didn’t I told you about the surekill skill?”

 

 _You never told me WHAT it was,_ Yong mentally sassed him.

 

“I was planning to catch him once he showed up, and even have soldiers stay hidden for that. But when he disguised as her Highness... We just couldn't harm that face.”

 

Nineheart then fidgeted a bit, “I’ll loosen the ropes first. You could get us out, right?”

 

Yong tried to reach for his sword in vain. He then realised they were tied to a wooden barrel, meaning it could break with immense force. He tried to bend his knees and jumped up as high as possible, smashing the barrel down onto the floor. The barrel however, was still intact.

 

“Is that all you got?”

 

Unwilling to let Nineheart taunted him, he repeated the action, this time with more force. They could feel that the bolts and rims of the barrel had became loose as they landed.

 

“Almost there!”

 

Yong summoned all his strength and jumped higher, slammed the barrel down one last time. The barrel broke into many pieces and their restraints went loose, setting them free. He heard a yelp and looked back to see Nineheart lying on the ground, seemingly rattled. He adjusted his monocle and had trouble getting back onto his feet. Nineheart blatantly lied when he noticed Yong was looking at him, clearly disappointed at his poor stamina.

 

“... I'm getting too old for this.”

 

………………

 

After retrieving his sword, Yong left the room to get to the main deck, Nineheart right at his tail.

 

Making their way back onto the deck was not easy. Upon leaving the room, they found their path was flooded by many robot soldiers. Yong destroyed all of them while trying to protect the defenseless tactician. On their way, they met up with Athena Pierce who was looking for Nineheart while fending off the androids. She looked relieved as they walked up to her.

 

“Nineheart? You’re alright!”

 

“Back from the dead. Where’s the Empress?” Nineheart asked with concern.

 

“I didn’t see her! Wasn’t she with you?”

 

It became clear that Cygnus’s whereabouts were unknown, so looking for Cygnus became their priority. With Athena Pierce’s help, they were able to defeat the androids faster. As they were clearing the floor, they moved further to get to the deck. As they were nearing the central hall, they all saw a floating woman in purple robes. They encountered Black Witch Eleanor of the Black Wings.

 

The archer and warrior drew their weapons and began their assault. Despite her throwing petrifying magic at their face and teleporting away from them, they managed to pin her down and disarmed her completely. She quickly escaped the ship and they pressed forward. They got rid of more androids and soon the lower parts of the ship were Black Wings free.  

 

They made their way into the central hall, which was surprisingly empty and then out onto the main deck. They found Cygnus looking at the deck, where the Alliance members battled the battle androids that landed on the ship. Cygnus turned to them and acknowledged their presences.

 

“Things aren't looking good, Yong.”

 

“The enemies attack after separating the Alliance’s main forces.” Nineheart analysed the Black Wings strategy.

 

Yong looked at the deck, and then looked back at the leaders. Athena Pierce offered to protect the Empress and urged him to aid their fight.

 

“Adventurer, show the enemies what you got!”

 

He ran forward and was greeted by Goofy, Dolphy and Leafy. They joined him and fought off the horde of robot soldiers.

 

The endless waves of androids kept raining upon the ship and the four did not stop sweeping them off the deck. After making sure a part of the deck was empty, they went forth.

 

On the way, they was greeted by Baroq, who was manning a helicopter that looked like a shark, yelling over the ruckus. The siblings advised Yong to ignore him and continue destroying the androids, much to Baroq’s dismay. They even managed to dodge the missiles he rained upon them.

 

Eventually, Baroq was forced to face them and began his assault on the four. He started off by charging and unleashed lethal energy spheres at them. They dodged the attack and threw whatever they had at the copter. They kept attacking him and even destroyed the androids he summoned. After what felt like ten minutes, the helicopter was finally downed and Baroq’s cries could be heard as he plummeted. The trio cheered.

 

“Master of Disguise is defeated! That’s amazing, Captain!” complemented Goofy

“The enemy commander is defeated!” Dolphy exclaimed.

 

“By the Captain!” Leafy added.

 

Suddenly, a shrill laughter rang throughout the air. A giant black airship with the exterior of a shark made its appearance. A large cannon attached on top of the body, along with a missile launcher. Another cannon was located beneath its jaws. Hiver, the Black Wings Captain in shades grinned maniacally at them from the window that looked like an angry shark eye.

 

“It- It’s here! The Black Heaven!” Dolphy yelled out.

 

“You actually defeated the Master of Disguise! Not bad! But this ends here!”

 

A surge of energy gathered at the mouth of the ship and was about to unleash a deadly attack.

 

“Look out! Jump!”

 

They quickly jumped out of its attack range. The projectile narrowly missed them.

“Not bad!”

 

The ship moved back and they went after it. On their way, more androids blocked their path, so they kept destroyed them that they lost count. After the deck was cleared, Black Heaven appeared once again. They dodged a deadly beam from it and they moved forward. They finally faced the destructive airship.

 

“Hahaha, let’s end this fight now!”

 

It rained missiles and more androids upon them. They retaliated and returned more attacks at the airship while doing their best to dodge those attacks. Even so, they had to pause when the airship shot another deadly beam and hitting the side of the ship. After that, hey became more relentless on their assault. Blade and arrows clashed with metal.

 

Moments later, the airship started to explode and its altitude slowly decreased.

 

“Is the Alliance’s warrior a monster?!” was Hiver’s last words before he disappeared into the clouds. Goofy bid him farewell.

 

“Adios! Let’s go back, Captain!”

 

They headed back to the main deck, where the others were gathered. The silence marched on as they waited for something to happen.

 

“Is it… over?” asked Claudine.

 

“It's over,” replied Athena Pierce.

 

“I don't see anymore enemies,” added Nineheart.

 

Their statement sunk in and the Alliance started to cheer at their victory.

 

“We won!”

 

“Yong sank Black Heaven!”

 

“It was nothing!”

 

“Please tell us our next destination, Empress.” Nineheart turned to Cygnus, but she remained quiet. Her expression solemned.

 

“... Empress?”

 

“Wait. Something… isn’t right.”

 

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over the deck. Everyone turned around to witness the shock of their lives.

 

“... Nineheart… We can defeat our enemy no matter how strong they’re… Is that true?”

 

“…...”

 

A large black airship, unlike any other emerged from the clouds. It looked like the shark-like airship from before, only larger by hundred folds. Two wings extended on both sides to keep it in the air. A giant glass pane covered the semi-sphere opening on its body. A large cannon extended from its dorsal fin, another one located beneath the ship. The eye-like yellow windows glared at the Crystal Garden. More cannons capable of blasting the said flying ship in a strike donned the exterior. Steam came out of its sides and fire sparks flew. It was truly a ginormous and terrifying sight to behold. A few miniature versions of the ship flocked around the mothership, like they were its children.

 

“ _That’s_ Black Heaven...!?” Claudine gaped.

 

Shock washed over the crowd and they felt hope began to diminish.

 

“...Let’s hide in the clouds!” Cygnus suggested.

 

“Everyone, change the course!” urged Athena Pierce.

 

A flurry of orders later, the Crystal Garden retreated into the clouds.

 

 

8 hours since the operation started, Black Heaven appeared

 

 

……………...

 

 

That night, Crystal Garden

 

An urgent meeting was held among the important figures of the Alliance to tackle their current dilemma. Claudine’s voice rang through the Conference Room.

 

“This is a reckless fight… Shouldn’t we make a more elaborate plan?”

 

“We don’t have enough information. What are the Resistance doing when the Black Wings were building such monstority?” Claudine turned at Nineheart with a murderous glare.

 

“What do you said? Who do you think was stopping the Black Wings from extending their  influence?”

 

Athena Pierce quickly broke them up, “Now isn’t the time for arguing. Who would’ve thought that **little airship** could be this huge...”

 

“We must find a solution. We have time until sunrise, let’s start the meeting.” Cygnus suggested.

 

Suddenly, someone let out a soft giggle at the entrance of the room. Yong turned to the door, confused. _What was that sound?_

 

He looked back at the others to find them still discussing among themselves. Quietly, he slipped out of the room to investigate.

 

He went to the central hall and saw a familiar hooded figure hid behind the central pillar. He went there but could not find anyone. Then he saw him entered the east end corridor, letting out another soft giggle. _That way!_

 

He entered the corridor leading to the sleeping quarters. He went into the first room, checking the room for any signs of intruders. He felt a presence swiftly appeared behind him. A boyish voice spoke up.

 

“Where is Orchid?”

 

He turned around to see no one. Instead he was greeted with a few of familiar-looking puppets. After eliminating all the puppets, he left the room and moved on to the next one. The same thing happened in the second room.

 

“Let go of Orchid! Or else I’ll kill you all!”

 

After getting rid of the puppets, he noticed a pattern. He left and swiftly entered the third room. When he felt someone behind him, he turned to him and took a few steps back. Puppeteer Francis who was not expected to be spotted, dropped from the rope he was dangled from in shock. A fight was engaged and Yong went into a defensive stance. Even with Francis’s attempt at controlling his opponent like a puppet, he was still defeated.

 

Yong got close to inspect the fallen puppeteer, but instead found a broken puppet.

 

“Hahahaha, you idiot! It’s just my puppet! So long, dummy!”

 

Sighing, Yong went back to the Conference Room, only to see Cygnus, Nineheart, Athena Pierce and Claudine gathered at the main hall. It seemed their fight had drew attention. When he told them what he found out, Nineheart spoke in disbelief.

 

“Francis the Puppeteer? The same puppeteer everybody picked on? It wouldn’t be too hard to find him on this ship. Let’s search for him together.”

 

………………

 

After a through and fruitless search, the Alliance gathered at the main deck and reported their findings.

 

“He’s nowhere to be found. Maybe he left this ship,” concluded Nineheart.

 

Just then, a walking barrel strolled through the deck. Tiny feet shuffling with slow, quiet steps. Everyone present looked on wordlessly, looks ranging from pity to disbelief. Nineheart cleared his throat.

 

“About Orchid, isn’t she a little fat?”

 

The walking barrel yelped and came to a sudden halt.

 

“Her face, and her way of speech, there’s nothing attractive about Orchid.”

 

“My Orchid isn’t someone like that!”

 

Francis popped out of the barrel and looked ready to fight, but paled when he realised his cover was blown. “Argh, busted! In this case…” He contemplated for a moment, then…

 

“PUPPETS!”

 

He summoned two puppets on his sides, which turned into his lookalikes. He shuffled with them, and eventually stopped. They swayed about and cackled, looking very pleased.

 

“Hahahaha, you can’t tell which is real, huh?”

 

Oz, one of the Chief Knights walked forward wordlessly and summoned a fire tornado straight at the three Francises. The middle one yelped and ran around crying in pain as his robes continued to burn while the other two turned to ashes. Yong pitied him. Just a bit.

 

………………

 

 

The leaders looked at the puppeteer, who was tied up like a spool of yarn.

 

“We caught a Black Wings commander.” Francis corrected Athena Pierce immediately.

 

“No, I’m no longer a Black Wings member! Without Orchid, why would I still stay in the Black Wings? You guys are awful! Let go of Orchid, she’s powerless now!”

 

“No way. Think of everything you all have done to us all this time!” Claudine looked at him with disgust.

 

Francis thought for a while, “Erm... Okay, how about we make a deal?” The others looked confused, but decided to hear him out.

 

“I have a blueprint of Black Heaven. I risked my life to get this. If I return, I would be treated as a traitor. Use this blueprints to trade with Orchid. If you refuse, I’ll teared this blueprint up now!”

 

“Your hands are tied up. How to tear it up?” Nineheart was not impressed. Francis was shocked at the realisation.

 

“Err… Fine, then I’ll jump! I’ll do it!”

 

“... Very well, give us the blueprint.”

 

After Nineheart got the blueprint, Francis became eager.

 

“How is that? I gave you the blueprint. Please let me meet with Orchid just as you promised.”

 

“I will. But only after the war ends.”

 

“Argh… You… ! You all still dare to call yourself just?!” Francis screamed at them as he was taken away. Cygnus, Athena Pierce and Yong looked at Nineheart with distaste.

 

“Nineheart, didn’t you promised him?”

 

“We’re at war, Empress, it can’t be help.”

 

“He’s right. We couldn't effort to be emotional.” Unbelievingly, Claudine supported his action.

 

“But Nineheart…”

 

“We couldn’t be noble during war. To fight evil, we also must play dirty.”

 

Cygnus sighed dejectedly. Nineheart looked over the four people in front of him, blueprint in hand.

 

“Once the sun rises, Black Heaven will spot us. We need to make a plan before then.”

 

His face turned solemn.

 

“The real war starts _now_.”

 

 

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tempted to write Athena Pierce as Helena instead, cause it's shorter.
> 
> To note about Yong, his appearance is based on the one from Explorer beginning cutscene and BH end credits. 
> 
> Based on ingame dialogues, the chara is helpful and reliable, but impatient with annoying and obnoxiously demanding personals. Sometimes sassy, mostly keep their thoughts to themselves and they're no pushovers. So I use basic class characters since some special classes are a bit OOC for that.
> 
> Maybe I was just talking nonsense.


	3. Act 3: Clash of the Heavens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Alliance was prepared to carry out their plan, Black Heaven made the first move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The MSEA playthrough of BH stopped midway, so I was downed with just GMS and TMS. Maybe with a little hint of OrangeMushroom and Spadow's translation in my mind.

The next morning, Crystal Garden

 

The morning sun shone upon the Crystal Garden. After narrowly escaped the Black Heaven last night, they stayed hidden in the clouds and remained out of its sight. The leaders held a meeting to polish their strategy in the Conference Room overnight.

 

“Let’s review our plan.” Cygnus started.

 

“What plan? We create a diversion, sneak in from the sides... ” Claudine said.

 

“That’s right. A tactic which involves flanking the enemy in the midst of chaos. After analyzing the blueprint we got from Francis, Black Heaven is shown to have  **two fatal weakness** .” Nineheart laid the blueprint, “Firstly, it’s too large.”

 

“Yeah, and we're too small,” retorted Claudine as she rolled her eyes.

 

“Think about it. If it’s too large, it is impossible to cover its defense from every corner. A ship that huge would have a lot of blind spots, wouldn’t it?”

 

Claudine seemed to just realised it as well. 

 

“...What’s the second weakness, Nineheart?” asked Cygnus.

 

“Secondly, the energy source is focused at one place.” He pointed at the centre of the ship, “This black area is the central power source. It’s the heart of Black Heaven.”

 

“What kind of energy source they are using to power a ship this large?” Athena Pierce wondered out loud.

 

“That’s what I want to find out. We will know once we made it in,” Nineheart said firmly.

 

Athena Pierce looked at the blueprint, eyes focused. “Compared to that giant… We're like tiny ants.”

 

“But if ants start chewing the heart, even a giant could fall. That’s what we’re going to do,” was his reply. “The Cygnus Knights will protect Crystal Garden.”

 

“Kyrin and the pirates will create a diversion in the sky,” Athena Pierce continued.

 

“The flanking detachment will be Belle, Brighton and Checky from us Resistance. And Yong.” Claudine looked at Yong, in which he nodded.

 

“We must get onto the Black Heaven’s deck. Only then, we might be able to win…”

 

Cygnus barely finish her sentence when a sudden tremor shook through the ship. Everyone was alarmed by it. Chief Knight of Light Mikhail suddenly bursted into the room in panic.

 

“Empress, we're under attack!”

 

Once he finished his statement, the Crystal Garden was showered by missiles from Black Heaven, sending everyone off balance and they all fell onto the floor.

 

Moments later, the assault stopped and everyone slowly regained their bearing. The book shelves and chairs had toppled over.

 

“Argh... Enemy’s attack?” asked Nineheart.

 

“I never thought they would attack us first… They caught us off guard.” Claudine sighed dejectly.

 

“Uhhh… Yong? Athena Pierce? Is everyone okay?” Cygnus asked with concern.

 

Yong blinked a few times, steadily got back onto his feet and checked for injuries. He patted off the dust on his clothes.

 

“Yong, go to deck and see what’s happening. I am worried about the other soldiers aboard.”

 

He looked over at them. After being reassured by Athena Pierce, he went to the main deck. He was greeted by the sight of everyone busy battling the androids that got onto the ship. Battle mage instructor Brighton noticed him and notified him the situation.

 

“Yong! You’re here! Is Claudine safe? As you can see, the deck is a mess! Earlier, a huge missile hit the bottom of the ship. I’m worried about those in the lower deck.”

 

“Yong! I’m going with you! Brighton can handle the rest here. Saving the soldiers are more important.”

 

He saw Belle approached after destroying an android. Her eager face made him a bit uneasy.

 

“Leave it to me! This is nothing for me,” Brighton made his statement.  _ No arguments then. _

 

They went back to the empty central hall. The hall was filled with thick smoke, making their eyes watered. Apparently, the explosion from the missile had hinged the walls of the ship. Now they were more worried about the Alliance members that were resting in the sleeping quarters, as they would suffocated if nothing was done.

 

They made their way into the east end corridor and found two Resistance members was lying there, unconscious. Belle made a remark.

 

“There are fallen soldiers! Hurry!”

 

They walked up to the one of the soldiers and checked on him. He was out cold, but still alive.

 

“This might be harsh, but slapping them in the cheeks is a fast way to wake them up!”

 

Yong thought he might had a whiplash for how fast he turned his head to her.  _ Do I have to slap them? And why me?  _ Belle returned him an encouraging look. Eventually, he complied. Raising his hand, Yong slapped the soldier’s face.

 

“Uhh… my passing grandma’s… method… ”

 

“Huh, gone already?! Hit him harder!” Belle’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

 

Yong gulped and slapped harder onto his face. The Resistance member stirred slightly.

 

“Ugh… I, I will never tell you about the Resistance…”

 

“Yong! Hit him harder! Hit him a few more times!”

 

_ This is ridiculous.  _ Yong thought as he gave the hardest slaps he could mustered at his cheeks. The Resistance member groaned and woke up slowly.

 

“Argh… Yong?”

 

The same story goes with the remaining occupant of the corridor. He woke up faster than the first one. After that, they entered the first room and found another fallen soldier. he seemed to have better luck as the member rose immediately after his first slap. Before long, they left the first room with three Resistance soldiers standing with red puffy cheeks.

 

“The soldiers in the corridor and the first room are saved. Let’s check the second sleeping quarters.”

 

Just then, a large hole was blown into the wall and a bunch of white bunny figures in black entered the opening on the side of the Crystal Garden. The Black Wings quickly filled the other half of the room.

 

“Monsters have make a breach! Yong, show them what you got!” Belled exclaimed.

 

The helpless soldiers stood aside as they were still too weak to fight while Yong and Belle fought off the intruders. The white bunnies hopped off upon defeat. The Resistance members watched in awe as the warrior sliced and stabbed the enemies with little effort. After all the monster were defeated, they heard moans from the second room, so they headed there.

 

They made their way to the sleeping quarters of the Knights. They were in the same situation as the Resistance earlier. Belle’s encouraging yell prompted him to get to work. After all, she was right that they had no time to lose. Yong began to slap all of them awake as she question the Knights’ strength.  _ Ironic,  _ especially when the Resistance were the same just now.

 

More monsters poured into the ship as they exited the room. Yong and Belle quickly faced them while the soldiers stayed out of their way. In the midst of the fight, they could hear their conversations loud and clear. The Resistance soldiers and the Knights talked about their dream of being captured and tortured by the enemy. One of them told the Knights that they should be grateful it was not  _ Belle _ that wake them up, or else their faces would be more swollen. The atmosphere suddenly turned deadly when she asked if the soldier still wanted to remain out cold.

 

He also heard Belle asking something.

 

“So, I heard you and the three chickens from Ereve went to save Ten Boogies?”

 

“Umm, they are not chickens.” One of the Knights replied to her.

 

“...What?! Not chickens?” Yong stole a look at them, her face laced with pure shock while the others looked at the wild hunter with disbelief.

 

In the middle of the fight, Belle deemed Yong capable enough to handle it himself, so she decided to get the remaining unconscious Resistance members. He could heard the sound of her slaps and more painful moans from the rooms. He decided to focus on his task at hand and defeated all the enemies.When he was certain the Black Wings were not present, he turned to check on them. He found Belle grinning at him. Behind her was more Resistance soldiers with red puffy cheeks. 

 

Belle volunteered to take the red-cheeked soldiers away so they could rest.

 

“The rescued soldiers need a safe place to rest up. I wonder how is everything up on the deck. Brighton must be handling it well. ” She then led them away.

 

Yong looked at the corridor to see no one was around. “Shall I head up to the deck?”

 

Suddenly, a familiar loud and frantic cry came out from the last room.

 

“Hey! Is someone there?! Help me! I'm dying here! I have to see Orchid, I can’t die yet! Please save me!”

 

Yong’s face paled at Francis’s voice.  _ Oh no, it looks like a holding cell! Someone’s in there! _

 

He ran to the cell room and saw Francis in a burning cell. He curled against the bars, trying to stay as far as he could from the fire. His panic cries rang throughout the room. When he finally noticed Yong, he asked him for help.

 

“Help meee! Please save me! I’m burning up!”

 

Yong closed their distance, but he stopped when he heard someone else entering the room. He turned to see a Resistance soldier walked up to him.

 

“Yong, bad news! The enemies have took control the Pilothouse!”

 

Once he finished his sentence, an alarm buzzed throughout the ship. The two was shocked when the ship started tilting at a dangerous angle.

 

“Ahhh, the ship is listing!” He exclaimed frantically, “We need to take back the Pilothouse! The ship would crash at any moment!”

 

“Let’s go!” Yong nodded.

 

As they walked away, Francis called them. “Wait! Help me out first!” The ship listed again, Francis’s hands almost slipped and he nearly fell into the flames. “Ahhhhhh!”

 

“We need to let him out, then we leave,” said Yong.

 

“That’s against military law. That kid will escape.”

 

“I won’t! I can’t die without seeing Orchid!” yelled Francis.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

Yong know that letting Francis out might incurred the wrath of the rest of the Alliance, since he was an enemy. However, he couldn't just let Francis die, not especially when he could prevent it. He made his decision.

 

“We can’t let him die like this, even if he’s an enemy!”

 

“Very well then,” the soldier sighed.

 

“Thank you! I won't forget this!” Francis expressed his gratitude.

 

After letting him out, Francis was still trying to put out his burning robes.

 

“Help me put this out too!”

 

Yong ignored him and turned to the Resistance member. “Please keep an eye on him. I’m heading to the Pilothouse.” He left the two behind.

 

With swift steps, Yong went to the Pilothouse to find it was indeed hijacked by the Black Wings. The Cygnus Knight that was stationed there was defeated by the sheer number of enemies. 

 

“You’re here! We’re safe!” the knight cheered.

 

He pulled out his sword and quickly eliminated the threat. However, with no one manning the wheel, the ship started listing again. The fallen knight urged him to take the wheel. It took him a few attempts, but he managed to get the ship back at a safe level and the alarm was deactivated. He let out a sigh as a disaster was averted. Kyrin entered the Pilothouse and took over the wheel for him. With his job done, he made his way back to the cell room.

 

When he arrived there however, he found the Resistance soldier was on the ground nursing his injuries and Francis was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Are you alright? Where's Francis?”

 

“He got away. I'm sorry. I couldn’t stop him.”

 

He told Yong Francis’s message.

 

_ “I'm sorry that I didn’t keep up my promise. But I need to rescue Orchid. See you again.” _

 

“...was what he said.”

 

Yong was speechless at the turn of events. An explosion rang from the main deck. The Resistance member reassured him that he was fine and urged him to go. He gave him a firm nod and headed to the main deck.

 

……………….

 

They all gathered at the badly beaten deck to began their operation.

 

“Our plan was delayed due to enemies’ attack. But now things are under control, we must not waste time.” Nineheart commented.

 

“Belle, Brighton, Checky and Yong. Pay attention! When the pirates create a distraction, you all flank the Black Heaven. Quickly enter the deck using the route with the least enemy attacks.” Claudine explained the plan to them. Claudine proceeded to give them a contraption that resembles a rocket.

 

“Take this specially made signal flare. If anyone managed to get onto Black Heaven first, send a signal flare. Reinforcements will follow suit and enter the ship together.”

 

“We’ll complete the mission and send a signal flare as soon as possible,” Checky saluted.

 

“Wouldn’t it be too boring if this ends quickly, Captain?”

 

You can still joke at a time like this, Brighton?” Belle glared at him.

 

“Well, good luck to you all,” said Cygnus.

 

They made it to the deck where the small airships were located. However, the airships were all in bad shape. Checky did not take this lightly.

 

“No… The airships…” he failed to find an undamaged airship. “They’re all busted!” The bear mascot mask suddenly turned angry.

 

“Those Black Wings…” Belle was shaking with rage.

 

“What do we do now? Should we go back to Claudine?” asked Brighton.

 

“...No! I’ll fix these. Who am I? The Resistance’s No. 1 Mechanic Checky! I might even upgrade them into a better airship!”

 

“Heh… Upgrade?” Brighton deadpanned.

 

“Let’s start with the most basic repair. Can you guys also help me to get parts? You can get iron plates from androids.”

 

Yong, Brighton and Belle went further out on the deck to scavenge for iron plates. Between the android parts littered on the deck and destroying the still active ones, they were able to gather around thirty iron plates. During the fight, Yong learned that the other two did not have the same party in mind after Black Wings’ defeat.

 

They headed back and gave Checky the parts. He eagerly began the fixing, but it seemed that he hit a roadblock. The airships were still broken. Checky loudly exclaimed, his face turning red, “Why won’t it work?!”

 

“Whoa, calm down!” Belle tried to quell his rage.

 

“Sorry, I lost it.” Checky apologized.

 

“He got cuter when little teddy Checky made that noise.” Yong stared at Brighton wordlessly.

“I can’t get them fix without enough bolts. Get 30 junky bolts and it’ll be as good as new!”

 

So they were back at the deck hunting for bolts. If there was something Yong learned while fighting with Belle and Brighton, they flirted a lot. Though it was mostly one sided for Brighton.

 

After gathering enough bolts, they handed it to Checky and waited for him to fix the airships. However, it seemed that the airships  _ still  _ stubbornly refused to be fixed. Checky had reached his limit, too. His bear face twisted into a face angrier than before. He got this fire going over his already red bear mask, it could even cooked water on top of his head.  _ Is this even possible? _

 

“WHY?! HOW COULD THIS HAPPENED!!” His vocabulary suddenly became too colourful for minors. Belle approached him slowly with apprehension while the other two guys stared wordlessly.

 

“Easy, Checky, easy…”

 

“Sorry, I lost it again. I have fix them this time, for sure! There’s just no fuel. This really is the last one. Can you get fuel from the androids?”

 

Back into the battlefield they went. The android dropped bottles of high efficiency fuel when destroyed, making their jobs easier. On an unrelated note, Belle used Mesoranger battle cry as she attacked the androids. Brighton said it was her habit during battle.

 

After gathering 30 bottles of fuel, they gave them to Checky and small airships were finally fixed. He laid out instructions of the upgrades he made, including an attack button and easier maneuver. Without much mishaps, the four and the pirates took flight. Claudine and a troop of Resistance soldiers was right behind them, seeing them off.

 

“We’ll disperse the enemies. Please return safely!” With that, Claudine led the soldiers to hold the Black Wings back. After a short discussion, the four decided to split up to make their movements less obvious.

 

Yong continued his flight. On his route, he encountered a lot of Black Wings’ soldiers riding tiny flying contraptions. He spammed the attack button and destroyed many of them while dodging bullets. They even got flying flamethrowers and he even encountered the mini Black Heaven that attacked them yesterday. Eventually, he managed to shake them off and they found a path that was Black Wings free. They gathered again and made their way to Black Heaven.  _ I hope there won’t be a second time for this,  _ was what Yong thought.

 

……………….

 

“Looks like we’re the first to arrive.” Brighton noted.

 

“Now, who would like the honors of boarding Black Heaven first?” Belle asked.

 

“Ladies first.”

 

“Hmph, only now that you said ladies first?” Belle teased Brighton back.

 

The sunset painted the blue sky with mixes of oranges and yellows like a canvas. They approached the upper decks of Black Heaven silently. It was dead empty, which Brighton commented that it  _ was _ a blindspot in defense. 

 

“I’ll go first,” declared Brighton.

 

“Didn’t you said ladies first?”

 

“Why would I let a lady go into somewhere dangerous?” Brighton replied to Belle.

 

He went forth first, followed by the others. As they approached the deck, they stopped when they heard Gelimer’s voice.

 

“Hehehe, the little flies are here!”

 

Suddenly, a force field appeared around the deck. The force field sent charges to their airships, except Yong’s, who was the furthest away from them. The charges locked them in place, disabling their movements.

 

“I, I can’t move!” Brighton tried moving the controls.

 

“Gelimer… How did you-?!” exasperated Checky.

 

“How did I know your plan? It’s a secret~ Hehehehehe!” he cackled.

 

Two large cannons emerged from the deck and took aim at the trapped trio. Checky turned to Yong who was shell-shocked.

 

“Yong, pull back! They knew our plan, they knew we’re coming! You need to tell the others! Please go!”

 

“I can’t just save myself!” Yong retorted.

 

“The reinforcements are in danger! Go!”

 

Gelimer cackled and fired the cannons. The cannons began to shoot down Checky’s ship. Belle called for him as he plummeted. It was quickly followed by Brighton and Belle. The cannons took aim at Yong. With a heavy heart, he pulled his airship back and quickly flew out of attack range.

 

……………….

 

“Ambush team, respond. Have you reach the deck?” Claudine called them for a few times, and she grew concerned. “...Belle? Brighton? Checky?”

 

“We… we lost contact,” one of the soldiers notified her.

 

“How? That’s impossible! Everyone pull back! Abort all mission, we must rescue them first!” Claudine quickly got onto an airship and took off to Black Heaven.

 

……………….

 

“My hand… Grab my hand!” Belle desperately extended her arms at Brighton who fell out of his vessel. He looked dazed when she called his name. “Brighton!”

 

He held out his hand and linked it with hers. Even so, it helped little as they were both falling from a great height. They will eventually fall to their deaths. Brighton stole a look at her face and laughed weakly.

 

“* _ Chuckle*,  _ what’s with that face? I can’t believe that silly expression of yours would be the last thing I see...”

 

“No! Don’t say that!” Belle yelled at him. “ We’ll go back together alive!”

 

Behind her, a mini Black Heaven ship descended to their level. Its eyes glared at them as its cannons aimed at them. 

 

“Do you remember? We’re together since little…” Brighton looked at her with nostalgia as he continued, “Didn’t you mention defeating the bad guys? You’re Mesoranger Yellow, and I’m Mesoranger Green…” 

 

Belle was taken back for a moment. She then replied him tearfully, “...Yes, I remember, you dummy!”

 

The cannons gathered its energy, prepared to fire at them. Brighton let out a weak laugh.

 

“I want to witness the Black Wings’ fall myself…”

 

A series of explosion rained relentlessly upon the duo, clearly not holding back at all. The bright lights blinded the surroundings, turning the part of the orange sky white.

 

………………..

 

Claudine arrived near Black Heaven for the search on the missing team. She was hoping that them losing contact was just false alarm. She instead witnessed her friends got caught in a barrier formed around the giant airship. She yelled out in vain attempts to stop the cannons from firing at them.

 

“NO!!”

 

She looked on in silence as they fell like flies. Anguish washed over her slowly. She sank deeper into her airship, weakly called for her fallen friend in a whisper that only herself could heard.

 

………………

 

Deep in the cores of Black Heaven, the room was dark as the night. The green screens showered the room with little lumination. Lotus sat emotionlessly at the centre of the room, connected to large cables. His eye reflected the bright green radar that scanned for more enemies. A disembodied voice spoke up as the number of red dots scattered on the radar immediately decreased into one. “Target elimination complete. Return to cruising mode.”

 

Corners of Gelimer’s mouth moved up as he heard that. He let out a chuckle that send chill down one’s spine.

 

“Those idiots. It’s like striking an egg to a rock. There’s no use trying, because the Black Heaven is invisible.” He chuckled, then it turned into a loud cackle that travelled throughout the skies.

 

Somewhere in Edelstein, Orchid gasped as she suddenly opened her eyes, finding herself in an infirmary.

 

……………….

 

Back on the beaten Crystal Garden, Yong stepped out of the airship with a grim look painted on his face. With slow steps, he walked towards the entrance to the central hall. Along the way, a few Knights asked their concerns and greeted him quietly. He responded absentmindedly at them. One of the Knights notified him that Nineheart was at the Pilothouse. He headed there without a word.  _ They must know. _

 

He found Cygnus and Nineheart checking the overall condition of the Crystal Garden. They noticed him immediately and Cygnus worriedly checked his state. He told about their failed operation, what he had learnt and their lost. Nineheart and Cygnus were quiet at the revelation. Nineheart went back to review their situation.

 

“The main power had decreased 20%, but there’s not much problem in the flight abilities. We’ll just need an hour to get out of Black Heaven’s range.”

 

Just then, another figure stumbled into the Pilothouse. They turned to see Claudine, who looked even more shell shocked than Yong. “The ship… We must turn the ship around.”

 

Nineheart shook his head, “We must now not return to the enemies’ attack range.”

 

She reasoned, “We must find our missing comrades, they are waiting for our rescue.”

 

“Claudine… I understand how you feel, but… To survive that fall… I heard you witness it…” Nineheart’s voice slowly trailed off.

 

Claudine went silent for a moment, then she continued, “But if they are still alive, waiting to be rescued…”

 

Nineheart shot down that theory, “We can’t sacrifice more people to test out that hypothesis.”

 

_ Talk about heartless, _ Yong kept that thought to himself,  _ but I’m no different. For leaving them behind. _

 

“Sacrifice more people… Yeah, of course not.” Claudine hung her head lower, her eyes hidden beneath the shadows casted on her face.

 

“Claudine…?” Her sudden demeanor worried Cygnus.

 

Her head suddenly shot up, her eyes filled with cold rage, shocking all of them. After losing many comrades to the Black Wings, her sadness and rage had built up within her like a dam. Now, her friends were gone as well, and Nineheart’s statement had brought down the dam.

 

She finally snapped.

 

“You would  _ never _ make sacrifices for us Resistance. We had to be the one making sacrifice all this time.”

 

“Nineheart didn’t mean that…” Cygnus tried to explain to Claudine, but was cut off by her.

 

“Did not mean  _ that?  _ If that’s so, what’s the operation from the start? The ones sacrificed are our comrades!”

 

“We… we didn’t think they would know our attack.” Nineheart chose his words carefully, to not anger her further.

 

“That’s right, I forgot about this.” Claudine turned to Yong and pointed at him viciously. “Yong! You let go of Francis, right? That’s how they know the plan.”

 

“I, I…” 

 

“We can’t say that for sure, if we ignored Francis at that situation…” Cygnus had helped him responded instead.

 

“Then our people wouldn’t be sacrificed, and we would have taken Black Heaven now! Cygnus! Your meaningless compassion have cause all this, don’t you get it?” Claudine yelled back at her.

 

Nineheart was not pleased, “Watch your tone when speak to the Empress!”

 

“ **We are not your underlings!** The alliance was formed so we can stand on equal grounds to reach our goals and help each other! I am not here to experiment on war tactics!”

 

“Calm down, Claudine.” Cygnus tried, but it did little in quelling her rage.

 

“Silent!”

 

Silence filled the air as no one talked in the Pilothouse. Claudine seemed slightly calmer when she spoke up. “That’s right, I can’t push the blame on Cygnus, Nineheart and the Knights. That is what the Black Wings want. But I can’t let this go easily. Yong! I want you to take responsibility on the failure of the operation.”

 

Cygnus’s protest fell to deaf ears.

 

“If this isn’t done, I cannot face the others…” Claudine’s statement was final. Yong already expected this the moment he returned to Crystal Garden alone.

 

In order to hold him accountable for his actions officially, a hearing was held at the Pilothouse. Nineheart went and gathered more people to attend it. A moment later, equal numbers of Resistance soldiers and Cygnus Knights arrived at the Pilothouse. Athena Pierce entered last and made her way near the wheel to stand with Claudine, Nineheart and Cygnus. Yong stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by both knights and soldiers. Nineheart cleared his throat and gained everyone attention.

 

“The voters have gathered. Yong, from now on, Claudine will ask a few questions.  _ The soldier acting as juries  _ will make their judgements.” He gestured to the soldiers, which Yong nodded. “You may face disciplinary actions based on their judgement, so please answer carefully.”

 

There was a short silent before Claudine took charge, “Let us begin.” Claudine eyed him sternly, “Yong, earlier today, in the chaos caused by Black Heaven’s assault, you released the  _ puppeteer _ , right?”

 

Everyone knew about that. It would only discredit him if he said otherwise, so he answered honestly, “Yes.”

 

Cygnus approved his honesty, and the juries’ reactions varied. Claudine continued.

 

“Francis the Puppeteer might withhold  _ important information _ about Black Heaven and Gelimer, he’s a  _ captive _ . What’s your reason of releasing him?”

 

“He would die if he was ignored, and…” Yong stopped, as he thought if the reason was enough.

 

“And?” Claudine waited his reply.

 

“Human lives are important, even if they are enemies.”

 

“I can’t believe I’ve served with someone like you. No wonder the Empress would favor you.” She send a pointed look at Cygnus.

 

“If we lost our humanity, then we’re no different from the Black Wings.” Cygnus gave her statement, earning agreements from most juries.

 

“Even so, shouldn’t you stop Francis from escaping the Crystal Garden?” Claudine crossed her arms.

 

Yong answered her firmly, “It couldn’t be help, because the situation was dire. The Pilothouse was taken, and the ship was listing.”

 

“That’s right. Without Yong, we would be in greater peril.” The knight from earlier helped supported his statement. The majority seemed approved the answer.

 

“You never thought that Francis might leak the Alliance’s plans to Gelimer?” Claudine became skeptical. Yong decided to answer her with logic.

 

“That’s impossible. He was still in captive when we made our plans, he wouldn’t have known. Which means leaking them is also impossible.”

 

“That’s right, Yong…” Nineheart agreed his statement, but Claudine was not convinced. “We cannot be sure. You know from experience that Black Wings commanders have special powers. I’ll give you one last chance to speak.”

 

Yong looked down at his feet, deep in thought. “I know releasing a captive is unacceptable, I’m already prepared to take responsibility.” He then looked at Claudine in the eye, unwavered. “However, I do not regret it. I would still  _ put human lives above anything else,  _ even if they are enemies. I will bear all responsibility and face your judgement.”

 

A ripple of murmur resonated throughout the room. Nineheart ended the hearing and everyone waited for the result. Moments later, Nineheart announced the result.

 

“You’ll be on probation. However, considering the situation, Yong won’t be carrying out the punishment immediately.”

 

“...... Then, about Belle, Checky and Brighton……” Claudine went silent for a bit, then she shouted. “You admitted that this is all because of the Knights’ stupid plan, Nineheart!”

 

Everyone was taken back by her outburst. Nineheart tried to reason with her, “Please be more rational! You are just taking out your anger on people randomly.”

 

“You are the ones to say! While you all were fooling around on the ship, Belle, Brighton and Checky were fighting the Black Wings with their lives!” One of the Resistance snapped at Nineheart.

 

“You these rude bunch, how dare you! Show some respect to the Empress and the tactician!” One of the Knights snapped back at him. The contagious rage quickly spread throughout the room and everyone were glaring at each other. Athena Pierce immediately jumped in to break them up.

 

“Everyone calm down! An infighting is exactly what our enemy want!”

 

Yong’s worst fear had finally happened, a fight that could tear the Alliance apart.  _ Something needs to be done, _ he thought. He needed to stop their fight, which was caused by the deaths of Belle, Checky and Brighton.

 

He finally spoke up, stopping everyone in their tracks.

 

“...... I will take responsibility for their deaths.”

 

Everyone was shocked at his statement, but he ignored them and continued.

 

“I ran, even when I saw them falling. I do not deserve to stand on this battlefield. It’s all on me. The rest of you, please stay united.” 

 

He bowed, as all looked at him with disbelief.

 

………………

 

Yong felt like walking to his own execution as he approached the small flying wooden ship. The one that would sent him away from here. He heard footsteps and turned to see Cygnus walking towards him. Two knights stood further from them, giving them some space to talk.

 

“Yong… Is it true that you’re going to leave?” Cygnus asked as her brows furrowed.

 

His silent answered her question. Cygnus exclaimed, “This isn’t your fault!”

 

“As long as I took the blame, it can ease up the tension among the Alliance for a while.” He answered her firmly, smiling to reassure her.

 

“Yong… I know I can’t stop you, but… Please you can stay at a place where I can find you.”

 

He nodded and boarded the flying ship. The ship took off and descended further in the night sky. Yong watched as the Crystal Garden became smaller and smaller, knowing he would not be on that airship anymore. The Cygnus Knight that escorted him notified Yong that he would be dropping him off at Six Path Crossway in five minutes. Yong made a noise and let his exhaustion sank in. His eyes trained on the changing scenery.

 

“Say, the Alliance is quite heartless. Kicking you, who fought harder than anyone else out…” the Knight muttered.

 

Yong did not except the Knight to be chatty, but he replied him anyway, “I wasn’t kick out. I just do this to stop their conflict.”

 

A comfortable silent filled in the air. As he savored the silent, the Knight spoke up again.

 

“May I ask something? When you saved Francis...”

 

“?”

 

“If that happened again, what would you do?”

 

Yong cocked his eyebrow, then answered, “I would save Francis.”

 

Strangely, the Knight sniffed and said, “How touching!” making Yong felt even more confused. The Knight transformed into a puppet and fell onto the floor of the ship. A familiar voice spoke from it as the puppet slowly rose from the floor.

 

“Hehe, it’s me, me! Francis!”

 

Yong was surprised by that, but then he remembered all the trouble the puppeteer had caused him. His rage boiled inside of him and he looked at the puppet angrily. Francis became more nervous.

 

“Wa-wait! What’s with that face?!” His answer was a punch that was about to sink into the puppet’s head. The puppet shielded its head hastily and shouted at Yong. “Wait!!! Don’t tell me even you suspect me? Gelimer is the bad guy that betrayed Orchid! I would never join him!” 

 

Yong’s angry quelled significantly. Francis continued, “I’m here to thank you. I have important information! You’ll regret it if you didn’t hear me out!”

 

Yong sat straighter and listened to Francis’s information. The more he listened, the more shocked he became. By the time he finished, Yong grabbed the puppet by the shoulders and pulled the puppet closer so their eyes met. “... Why didn’t you tell this earlier?”

 

“Are you stupid?! It’s you Alliance’s fault for not keeping our promise! I’m only telling you this to repay you for saving me. I’m a man of my words, hahahaha!” 

 

Yong loosened his grip on the puppet. Francis paused before saying, “Oh, by the way, there’s one more thing...” 

 

“Hmm?”

 

“This puppet would self-destruct in 5 seconds.”

 

Yong immediately jumped further away from the puppet and got down on the floor. If one paid attention to the night sky of Victoria Island on that day, a tiny explosion could be seen on a flying ship.

 

Yong got up unharmed, and summarized what he was told. “Based on the intel,  **the Alliance would never defeated Black Heaven.** There’s only one way to defeat it…”

 

He got to the oars and start maneuvering them.

 

“I need to turn the ship around. The destination is…”

 

Yong looked at the east. One place came to mind.

 

“Edelstein’s  _ Mechanical Grave _ .”

 

The ship soared into the night as he headed off to his new destination.

  
  


_ To be continued... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be frank. The hearing scene was what got me to review the Blockbuster in different regions. 
> 
> The Resistance had it hard. It's a wonder they haven't tackle any of the Knights off the ship.
> 
> In Mandarin, the term for those captured by the enemy during war is called 俘虏(fú lǔ).


	4. Act 4: Signal of the Counterattack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After receiving information from Francis, the Alliance began their counterattack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This act is fun to write.

20 hours after the battle, North Edelstein, Mechanical Grave

 

It was still moments away from the daybreak. Tall piles of broken mechanical parts littered throughout the mountainous area. The metal junkyard seemed to stretch as far as the eyes could see. Multiple cranes towered among the piles of rusty metal. Instead of the foul scent that normally drowned a dump, this particular place was filled with the smell of motor oil and metal oxide. Every now and then, android heads and bodies came to view, their lifeless figures mangled and abandoned. It was a mechanical grave indeed. 

 

Yong looked around the terrain. His attire blended into the place seamlessly. It might be for the better, since there were chances of an enemy guarded this place. His mind wandered back to the night before. Francis’s information had led him to this place.

 

………………

 

_ “You’re all mistaken.” _

 

_ The puppet bearing Francis’s voice being the only speaker on the wooden ship as Yong listened intently at the puppeteer’s intel. _

 

_ “Your plans weren’t discovered. It was not a trap that waiting for you, it was Lotus’s barrier.” _

 

_ Francis must had caught Yong’s surprised face. He continued. _

 

_ “You didn’t know that Lotus was on Black Heaven? Of course you didn’t. It wasn’t on the blueprint. How does the Black Heaven stay in the air? Lotus’s current powers make it happen, because he absorbed Orchid’s powers. Flesh and machine become one! Black Heaven could be seen as an extension of Lotus’s body.” _

 

_ Francis gave Yong a moment to take in the information before proceeding. _

 

_ “Lotus’s force field surrounds the entire Black Heaven. It now has no blind spots. As I said earlier,  _ **_it is an extension of Lotus’s body_ ** _. But there’s only one thing… One interesting thing. The troops from Black Heaven. Aren’t you curious of where did they get this many of them?” _

 

_ He was about to answer when Francis cut him off. _

 

_ “Of course you would say they came from the inside. Well, you are wrong! The troops of Black Heaven are not stationed aboard Black Heaven.” _

 

_ The puppet’s volume amped up significantly. _

 

_ “They are summoned from somewhere else!” _

 

……………….

 

“I never knew there is a place like this near Edelstein.”

 

After making sure there were no enemies in sight, Yong walked out from behind a giant android’s body. A dirt path laid in the middle of the grave, which Yong was grateful of because he was not sure whether his boots could last long due to sharp scrap metals. Besides, it showed that someone was here before, meaning he was on the right track.

 

Yong continued down the path, an eerie silence filled the air. To explore an unknown place was always terrifying. Suddenly, he felt a presence from behind him.

 

“Who is it?”

 

He turned to the pile of scrap metal behind him and glared at it. 

 

“Come on out. I know you have been following me.”

 

No response. Yong drew his sword and stood defensively.

 

“... If you’re not coming out, I’ll go there.”

 

Three familiar figures jumped out of the pile and walked towards him excitedly.

 

“Ta-daa! I’m here!” Dolphy yelled out.

 

Yong was taken back, “You guys...How?”

 

“It’s been a while, Captain!” Leafy greeted him.

 

“Hehe! Where do you think you’re going without us, Captain?” teased Dolphy.

 

Goofy walked toward and handed him something, “Captain, here’s a letter from Empress Cygnus.”

 

Yong took the letter with caution and opened it up. A beautiful handwriting in blue on white parchment greeted him. He could hear Cygnus’s voice while reading it.

 

_ “I still believe in you. Please stick with me. Until we win this war!” _

 

Yong looked up from the letter and looked back at the trio. Goofy smiled at him.

 

“Empress Cygnus still believe in Captain.”

 

Dolphy teased at Yong, who tucked the letter away in his bag without a word. “Are you touched? Don’t cry, Captain! Hehehe!”

 

Now with companions, it was not that daunting to explore the Mechanical Grave anymore. They started searching for any signs of enemy’s base, treating it like trekking in a forest of scrap metals. When Goofy asked him to explain everything to them, he did his best to retell what happened to him after he left the airship.

 

“So basically Black Heaven and Lotus are one, Captain?” asked Dolphy as they climbed up chain at a cliff.

 

“That would explain how that large ship could detect small operations.” Goofy nodded in understanding as he helped Leafy up.

 

Yong was about to ask them about the others when Leafy piped up, “Don’t worry about what happened on Crystal Garden, Captain. Empress Cygnus gave us orders to help you herself. Maybe she knew that Captain would fight on yourself.”

 

“That’s right! Could that be the Empress’s foresight abilities?” Dolphy pondered as they slowly made their way down the jagged terrain.

 

“It’s not that, Dolphy. It is called  _ ‘faith’ _ ,” Goofy corrected him. He then turned to Yong, “You did nothing wrong. We should help those that in need. Their background doesn’t matter.”

 

“I should be the one saying something that cool,” muttered Dolphy. Goofy told him to keep quiet.

 

They all got over another cliff and reached a more even ground. However, as they approached another hill, Leafy noticed something.

 

“Get down, Captain!”

 

Not further from them, a few security robots patrolled the region. Dolphy voiced his confusion, ”What are those moving can? I thought there are only broken androids here?”

 

On closer inspection, the robots seemed to be scanning the area for something. “Weird. They seem to be looking for something… Have we been found out?” Goofy asked.

 

They heard the robots spoke something, but they were too far to hear them clearly. The only thing they knew was their search for something got them here. Fighting them would hinder and compromise their exploration here, so they did their best to stay out of sight. When they were climbing up the chains quietly, they heard what the security robots were looking for.

 

“Searching for runaway androids. Searching for runaway androids.”

 

After Goofy commented how these robots popped out of nowhere, Goofy asked, “Why the androids ran away? They are robots themselves!”

 

“Some of them might run away. Maybe they had a fight?” Leafy theorised.

 

“Androids only accept orders. Is that even possible?” Goofy disagreed.

 

“That’s right, maybe there are some that misbehave like me? Hehehe.” Dolphy giggled, clearly know that he was quite the troublemaker.

 

They continued their silent trek throughout the hill. They got a few close calls and barely escaped capture. In the middle of their exploration, Dolphy sniffed and claimed that he smelled something.

 

“ _ *Sniff sniff* _ , what’s that smell?”

 

“I didn’t smell anything, brother.”

 

“No, there  _ is  _ something. It must be Goofy.”

 

“...It wasn’t me.” 

 

“It’s okay, bro. This is a natural thing. Just treat it like the butt is breathing” 

 

Both Yong and Leafy sighed at their shenanigan again. Leafy lamented, “...Here they go again.” Yong thought,  _ do they have to do this again? _

 

They finally made it through the patrol robots. With the coast finally clear, Dolphy became more determined to sort out what happened earlier.

 

“Hehehe! Brother is a fart machine.”

 

“Brothers, please stop now.” Everyone stopped walking at this point. Nobody moved from their spot.

 

“Didn’t you heard what Leafy said Dolphy!”

 

Dolphy let out loud laughter, no longer holding back. Leafy made a warning with a dangerously voice. “If you two keep shouting like that…”

 

Suddenly, a loud blast came from behind Yong, surprising all of them. They all turned to see countless battle androids rained down the ground. Their guns pointing at them and red eyes glaring at them. “ **Hostile targets found. Hostile targets found.** ”

 

Leafy frantically screamed, “Captain, we’ve been discovered!”

 

Goofy ordered Leafy to cover Yong while him and Dolphy covered left and right respectively. They entered battle mode and attacked the androids. In the sea of androids, they spotted one that was twice the normal size. They decided that it was too dangerous to deal with and evaded it as that android shoot lasers from its eyes at their direction. At first, they were doing well, but as more androids rained down the earth continuously, they found themselves slowly being cornered by the sea of androids. At the end, they found themselves backed against a cliff. That large one slowly walked to them. “ **Target capture not needed. Eliminate. Target capture not needed. Eliminate** .”

 

“This is so bad, Captain! There’s too many of them!” Goofy said.

 

“29, 30… Where do they keep coming from!” Dolphy gave up counting.

 

Just then, they heard a voice calling for them. “You four! Get here quickly!”

 

The voice came from an abandoned mineshaft at the bottom of the shallow cliff. The iron grate fence blocked the entrance, but if someone was there, it meant that it was in fact opened. Leafy urged Yong, “Captain, let’s hide there first!”

 

They scrambled down the cliff. The large android barely missed them as it went after them and shoot lasers at them. It stopped at the cliff and they quickly got into the mineshaft, without looking back. They kept running until they reached the other end. They got out and reached what seemed to be a crudely made shelter. Two white tent with different sizes, a lookout tower and a working space came to view. Only then they stopped to catch their breath.

 

“ _ *Pant pant*...  _ I really thought we’re gonna die!” Dolphy gasped.

 

“It almost happened because of you two.” Leafy chastised them.

 

“Sorry.” Goofy hung his head.

 

Leafy then turned to Yong, “Thank goodness everyone’s fine. But, whose voice was that earlier?”

 

“It was me. You guys really nearly get into big trouble.”

 

A blue and grey android with a rectangular head, wearing a brown pants walked out of the larger tent. One of its eye popped out of its socket and was dangled by a spring. None of them ever thought that their savior would be--

 

“... An android?” Goofy muttered. The android let out a hearty laugh.

 

“The way you ran for your life is quite normal looking. Even though I lose an eye! Hahaha!”

 

The siblings looked dumbfounded. Goofy pointed his crossbow at the android, “Captain, please place an order to attack!”

 

“Wait. This one feels a little different.” Yong stopped him.

 

“I’m called  _ One-Eye _ . I named myself. What’s your name and the three chickens’ over there?”

 

Yong could see their expressions twisted slightly. He introduced himself to One-Eye, who seemed to have trouble saying it.

 

“ _ Yong? _ There’s a difficult name like that in this world? Hold up… I’ll give you a new name.”

 

“Huh?? That’s not necessary--”

 

One-Eye thought hard for a moment. He got a eureka moment and said, “Alright! Since you’re soft and squishy, I’ll call you  _ Squishy _ !”

 

“Wait!! That’s a little--”

 

“That’s no need to thank me. It wasn’t that hard. I also named my family.”

 

“I’m a little concerned.” Yong was genuinely concerned at One-Eye’s naming skills.

 

Goofy raised his flipper, “Excuse me, are you the one the robots are aftering?”

 

One-Eye laughed, “Hahaha! That chicken is quite sharp. Not just me, my wife and daughter was being chased after as well.”

 

“Wait, aren’t you an android as well? Why are you being hunted by them?” Dolphy asked.

 

“Hahaha… It’s a long story… you see… “

 

“Just get to the point.” He cut One-Eye off impatiently. He knew it was rude, but they did not have much time to deal with this. They had not found the way to Black Heaven yet and Black Wings might make a move already. 

 

“Uh, you might not believe this, but we have  _ ‘feelings’ _ .” Yong raised an eyebrow at him. One-Eye continued, “If androids like us have feelings, it would be very obvious. I was about to get scrapped, so I ran.”

 

“Honey, what did you bring back this time?” A new voice shouted from the tent. A pink and grey android walked out of the tent. A yellow scarf draped around her neck and two light bulbs resembling two buns adorned her head. She had four arm, but one of them was covered by bandages. One-Eye led them closer to her into the shelter. She looked at the newcomers, confused.

 

“What, What is this? Is that a human? And Chickens?”

 

The bird siblings’ faces twisted again slightly. One-Eye beamed at them.

 

“Allow me to introduce. This is my wife, Three-Arms. Three-Arms, I saved him from the patrol robots. His name is Squishy.”

 

“Robot husband and wife? Why is this getting…?” Dolphy throwed his flippers at the duo while looking at the others, unable to find a proper word to describe it.

 

Three-Eye cooed lovingly at One-Eye, “Wow, Squishy! Such a lovely name. But how did your soft little friends end at a place for android like this?”

 

Yong told them everything, from start till finish. By the time he was done, the couple seemed to be deep in thought. 

 

“...I see,” said Three-Arms.

 

“Well, you guys found it. There is only one way to go to Black Heaven.” One-Eye explained and pointed at the tallest tower in the Mechanical Grave, “That tower is actually a huge android assembling machine. The top of the tower has a  _ teleporter.  _ That teleporter will send the androids to Black Heaven. That is the  _ only route _ to Black Heaven. However, there’s a problem. That teleporter will check on the computer chip in the androids’ head. Which means, without an android head, you couldn’t get pass the teleporter.”

 

Three-Arms reassured, “There is a way. To cheat the system, we must  _ use our head _ .”

 

“What do you mean?” Yong subconsciously reached for his neck.

 

“What else would we mean? We make a head! A  _ helmet _ ! After that, we use this.” One-Eye showed a computer chip, “That should help you get through the teleporter. All you need is to bring the right parts.”

 

“So you’re going to help me?” Yong did not expect that.

 

“That is useless. It was reckless gambit.” A new voice entered the conversation. 

 

“Oh, my daughter, Bitterbot is back!” Three-Eye cooed.

 

“...Bitterbot?” Yong gave up trying to question them at this point.

 

An orange android wearing a tattered dark robe walked towards them. Her expression unchanged all the time. She seemed to already knew everything for her to say that.

 

“Let me introduce, our daughter Bitterbot. She was waiting to be scrapped, so we brought her here. She is the apple of our eyes. Although I have already lost one! Hahaha!” One-Eye laughed at his own joke.

 

“Even if you made it, you will still get caught immediately on Black Heaven. This plan is doomed to fail.” Yong winced at that.  _ That’s explains her name, I guess. _

 

Her parents seemed to not mind her, as they cooed at Bitterbot lovingly. Yong and Bitterbot sighed.

 

“Anyway, we need materials to make you a usable helmet. Good thing Three-Arms is a master crafter.” One-Eye explained. Three-Arms got flustered.

 

“ _ *Giggle*  _ I still haven’t lost my touch!”

 

Leafy, who was on the lookout with her brothers came back to report. “Captain, I think the patrol robots are nearby!”

 

“ _ What _ , the patrol robots are here. Can you help take care of this problem? I saw you fought earlier. You were good.” One-Eye praised.

 

“We only have the  _ computer chip _ . You will get the remaining parts, Squishy.” Three-Eye made a checklist for him. They would need metal plates and bolts for the basic frame,as well as lights and light bulbs for details. The materials could be obtained from the nearby android soldiers.

 

Yong and the siblings headed out and started scavenging for those parts. They took extra care not to damage the androids’ body parts to get their needed materials for the helmet. As they were hunting for parts, the topic of feelings came up. The siblings voiced their surprise of the android family had developed feelings. Leafy then was reminded of their parents back in Ereve, and Goofy told her that they would have to wait for the war to end to go home.

 

After getting the initial parts for the frame, they handed the materials to Bitterbot. Ignoring her pessimistic comments, they continued their search while waiting for the frame to be made. Making sure to avoiding the patrols, they carefully extract the fragile glass bulbs from the androids. The siblings told their story of how they became Ereve Bowmen to be like their father.

 

They returned to the camp with light bulbs, greeted Bitterbot who suggested them to give up. Yong handed the parts to Three-Arms. Moments later, she declared the helmet was done.

 

“There. It’s finally done! Now I just to need insert the memory chip here…”

 

A sudden explosion rocked the shelter. Everyone went on guard immediately.

 

“What was that? It feels familiar… Could it be...” Dolphy’s word trailed off. One-Eye turned to the source of the explosion.

 

“...Who just farted?” He asked with apprehension.

 

An army of androids landed outside the shelter, pointing their weapons at them. The bulbs on their head shone a dangerous red. “ **Target found, eliminate. Target found, eliminate.** ”

 

“Captain! They found the shelter! We have to fight!” Goofy readied his crossbow.

 

The fight broke out immediately and they fought the horde of androids. One-Eye, Three-Arms and Bitterbot stayed out of the fight. Arrows dug into metal and many androids were sliced into pieces. That large android appeared again, shooting more lasers at them. Letting that thing going rampant would made the situation more dangerous, so they destroyed it at once. Before long, the threat was eliminated and they were left with a burning shelter.

 

“Is it over? Is everyone okay?” Goofy headcounted.

 

“Still got my eye, I’m fine.” One-Eye checked his eye. Three-Arms sighed dejectedly.

 

“Honey…”

 

“Hmm, it seems that this place is not safe anymore. We should be leaving. We must get things done before that! Squishy, help me get the computer chip at the tent.” One-Eye pointed at the said tent. Yong took the weird looking chip before the tent burned up. One-Eye was pleased.

 

“Hahaha! You brought it. Squishy, I want to tell you something. When we ran away. We told you that we’re waiting to be disposed, right? At that time, we know nothing. Just waiting in line, following the orders. Waiting to be scrapped.”

 

His eyes looked far away at the moment, “There was a younger android in front of us. We got close after having a conversation with him. He was a really adorable kid. At that time, we don’t know that means we had developed feelings. Near the disassembling machine, I also felt  _ fear _ . The administrator noticed our change and had us disassembled earlier. That kid was first, we couldn’t even stop him. We took the computer chip and escaped while the administrator wasn’t looking. We’ve been on the run ever since.”

 

He looked at the chip, “This computer chip… It belongs to that kid that might become our first child.”

 

Three-Arms seemed to notice Yong’s look, “Please don’t misunderstand, Squishy. What we want is not revenge.”

 

“That’s right. We don’t want that feeling. However, we wish that no more androids would suffer like us.” One-Eye said. Bitterbot remained silent, expression unchanged. One-Eye laughed out a bit, “Everyone have their own secrets, isn’t this life? Hahaha!”

 

Three-Arms handed the helmet. It looked a little wonky, but large enough to fit on his head. “The helmet is complete. This is the best one I’ve made so far. Squishy, now you decide.”

 

He answered without hesitation, “Please show me to the central tower.”

 

………………

 

Yong and the siblings arrived at the tower. The roaring machine sucked scrap metals into the chamber behind the fence, drowning out any white noise. Yong fidgeted his helmet a bit, eyes showing from the android’s mouth.

 

“It feels a little tight…”

 

“Don’t worry Cap’n, it fits perfectly.” Dolphy reassured.

 

A ladder from outside the fence led into the tower.  The administrators patrolled the tower for signs of enemy. They climbed up the ladder and did their best to avoid battle. They managed to evade most of the patrols and reached the top of the tower after quite a while. The teleporter stood at the top of the tower. The door to open it was locked by another combination lock, only this time alphabets were used instead. After Leafy stopped Dolphy from breaking open the teleporter, they studied the puzzle attentively. The door had “_ _ _ _K HEAVEN” written on top. Yong entered ‘B,L,A,C’ in order and the door opened. 

 

“Here’s our stop, Captain.” Goofy said.

 

“Return safely, Captain!” Dolphy gave a thumbs up.

 

“Please be careful!” Leafy warned Yong.

 

He entered the teleporter. The teleporter read his computer chip and the tower rocked a bit. He was then send to Black Heaven. From a distance, the android family watched as the teleporter sent a strike of blue light into the dark sky, its light illuminating the near-dawn sky. One-Eye spoke up, “Whew, he really made it. I was hoping Squishy could stop Gelimer...”

 

One-Eye and Three-Arms began to leave, but Bitterbot who was still watching spoke, “There’s no way.” They stopped to turn to their daughter. “There’s no way to stop Father. He’s stronger than he looks.”

 

“You’re still calling Gelimer Father?” Three-Arms asked her.

 

“Humans are weak because they have emotions… Father always said that.”

 

“That’s true, but that’s also their greatest strength!” One-Eye added, “To have feelings, to be able to feel weak, it is a great thing.”

 

“We understand that now, don’t we Bitterbot? It’s because we have human feelings.”Three-Arms said.

 

“Maybe you do. But not me.” She answered.

 

One-Eye stopped for a while, then he asked, “Then why didn’t you stop him?” 

 

She was clearly shocked at the question. He continued, “If you’re listening to his orders, you would’ve stop him. But you didn’t.” Bitterbot kept quiet, “Now you acknowledge it. We have human emotions. Our lives are now different.”

 

One-Eye waved at her. “Come on, there may be more androids with emotions that are suffering now. We must save them before they got disposed.”

 

The couple left off, leaving Bitterbot to contemplate. “Emotions…” She took off her mask to reveal a girl with light blue hair and markings on her face, her ears were replaced by Xenoroid ears. Beryl the Xenoroid looked back at the tower, talking to nobody in particular. 

 

“If you could prove that Father is wrong… Can I still accept it? Be careful. Father’s  **true plans** have yet to be revealed.”

  
  


Infiltration time 06:00, skies above Edelstein

 

Black Heaven cruised leisurely in the morning sky. It was just another busy day for the Black Wings’ inspectors as they inspected every androids that went up to Black Heaven deck. The conveyor belts moved the androids along as they were inspected.

 

“Just look at that, we got a lot of them today! We don’t even need to lift a finger in this war, winning is just the matter of time.”

 

“How are we gonna finish inspect this many of them? It won’t make much difference if there’re a few defects, right?”

 

“It’s okay. If they break, they get reassembled and brought up here anyway.”

 

An wonky-headed android, wearing human clothes and carrying a sword got caught their eye. It stood stiffly as they looked on.

 

“But didn’t that one over there look a tad bit suspicious? What are they doing down there?”

 

“Just ignore it. Sometimes the random assembling produces something like that.”

 

Yong felt relieved that they did not suspect a thing. However, things went down when the conveyor belt brought him to go through a scanner. The moment he went beneath the scanner, alarms blaring at the gate. The inspectors heard it and went to check the system.

 

“Let’s see…... Number 24601! Step forward!” Yong stubbornly remained still. The inspector started becoming angry.

 

“What, it’s a defect? Are the inspectors at the front doing their job?” His voice got louder, “ _ That means I’m getting more work?! _ ” He got more angered, “ **_It’s not like I’m gonna get paid more!! I’m speechless!_ ** ”

 

The inspectors stepped forward, “Send it to be disposed.”

 

Sensing danger, Yong took off his helmet, revealing himself to them and reached for his sword.

 

“Ah!!! The… T-T-T...The enemy is here!!! Stop him!!”

 

The two nearest androids’ eyes shone and restrained the warrior. Two inspectors tried to help, but a slash from Yong’s sword knocked everyone back. The remaining inspectors blindly charged at the intruder and was quickly defeated by Yong. He moved further into the deck and was greeted by an army of Black Wings. A Black Wings officers’ orders was drowned out as Yong sliced throughout the sea of henchmen with ease. As Yong kept moving forward, more enemies were called to stop him. Yong did not stop to defeat all of them, to the point that the officers were shocked to find out he was the only enemy aboard. 

 

He saw Dargoth approaching with a deadly grin, “I knew it be you. I will break you good this time!” The officers cheered at his arrival, however they retreated right when Dargoth was defeated after an intense fight with Yong broke out. Not caring the dust and debris clinging onto him, Yong continued to clear the deck as the officers called for more reinforcements. He heard them saying about some barrier keepers. Yong smirked and pushed himself to that direction. 

 

The path was getting more crowded as he went further. Black Witch Eleanor was back and threw more spells at him. Working fast, Yong kept swinging his sword and used a hurricane of skills at her. Later, she was finally gone for good. 

 

However, Yong was getting tired with all the fighting. A shadow loomed and a familiar machine came to view. An officer was piloting the Demolishizer from Riena Straits showed up once again. The machine charged with its drills extended and flamethrowers at the ready. Yong avoided the attack and aimed for the pilot. Taking advantage of the Demolishizer’s structure, he leaped onto the drill, followed by the furnace. He then knocked the pilot out of the machine, which he ran away. Yong tested out the controls and learned it quickly.  _ This button to attack, that one to jump. The controls are simpler than I thought.  _

 

With the new firearm, Yong got through the enemies faster than he usually was without much effort. He even destroyed a few cannons, shipping containers and what he suspected to be barrier keepers. After that part of the deck was completely empty, he did one last check before announcing: “All the barrier keepers in this area has been neutralised.”

 

He parked the Demolishizer and got out of it. Claudine’s word echoed in his head,  _ “Take this specially made signal flare. If anyone managed to get onto Black Heaven first, send a signal flare.”  _ He walked into a more open area and took out his signal flare.

 

“This is the only time they can get onto Black Heaven, through the crack in the barrier. I must inform the Alliance.”

 

The contraption was set up on the deck. The device beeped, ready to send the flare. At this moment, Yong hesitated. “Even if I send the signal flare now, will the Alliance get here in time? This is too risky to gamble.”

 

He remembered Cygnus’s letter.  _ “I still believe in you. Please stick with me. Until we win this war!”  _ He looked at the device, “...I will trust my comrades.”

 

A hit on the button and the signal flare shot up into the skies. Yong watched as it went higher and higher, until it disappeared into the clouds.

 

………………

 

Back on the beaten Crystal Garden, everyone was on low spirits. They still could not think of a way to win this war. Nineheart urged Cygnus to make an important decision.

 

“Empress, you must make a decision. We cannot win this war.”

 

Just then, a blinding light filled the sky. Everyone looked at the fading red and orange light with red sparks, the colours representing Maple World. They recognised it as their specially made signal flare. Cygnus spoke with certainty.

 

“No... We are not done yet.”

 

………………

 

As the light faded, Yong hoped they saw the flare. Suddenly, the sound of crunching metal was heard from behind. He turned to the noise. Instead of the Demolishizer, the spot was now occupied by the Pulverizer, the very same one from a few day ago. Yong stared at it wordlessly, then he said, “...It wasn’t supposed to be parked there.”

 

The Pulverizer moved a inch and Yong bolted. Not long after, Yong could heard that death machine advancing as he ran with all his might. For some reason, the Black Heaven started tilting and more debris fell towards him. He dodged those while trying to keep his footing. The Black Heaven became level again, but did not last long as it tilted again, this time the other way around.  _ Why does this keep happening?! _

 

Eventually, the larger debris and shipping containers slowed the Pulverizer a little and he stopped for a moment. He quickly ran when the Pulverizer cut through the debris. He ran further, but had reached at the edge of the deck. He managed to stop himself from falling off Black Heaven and turned back to run. However, he stopped and slowly backed himself as the Pulverizer advanced towards him. He looked at the death machine and began to tremble. He stood near the edge and the machine prepared to charge.  _ I’m doomed. _

 

“Get down!!”

 

A voice rang out and he immediately got on the floor. A missile flew past his head and hit the charging Pulverizer. The machine was held back and missed him completely. He got up and turned to see his savior. He could not believe his eyes.

 

“Claudine?!”

 

Claudine’s ship flew closer and shot more missiles at the charging Pulverizer. The attacks kept it in place, but not enough to destroy it. Two cannons appeared on the deck and took aim at her. Yong’s eyes widened.

 

“Claudine!! Get back!”

 

“No! Never!” She stubbornly refused.

 

The cannons began firing at the Resistance leader. She cried out as the attacks rained relentlessly on her.

 

“Go, get away!” Yong urged her to leave, but she refused.

 

“Never again!” Claudine’s eyes burned with fury as she shouted her resolve. “ **I’ll never lose anyone ever again!** ”

 

She kept shooting at the Pulverizer, but none came out. “Ahh, the ammunition!”

 

The cannons fired on, but they suddenly exploded, leaving two charred metal shells. Claudine and Yong was confused until three familiar ships zoomed past the cannons. Belle, Checky and Brighton made their appearances. The presumably dead Resistance instructors made a v-shaped formation in front of Claudine, still alive.

 

“We made an entrance at a decisive moment!” declared Brighton.

 

Claudine got emotional, “Checky! Brighton! Belle! But how?!”

 

“Let’s deal with this first!” Belle answered.

 

“Incoming!” Checky announced.

 

Yong turned back to see the Pulverizer had already backed off and charged at them again. He ducked down and the trio shot their ammunitions at the machine, holding it back. A few more rounds of missiles later, multiple explosions covered the Pulverizer, blowing it to bits. Having his fatigue and lack of adrenaline finally catching up to him, Yong was knocked out cold.

 

………………

 

White. A lot of white.

 

It was the only thing he could see as the silence ticked on. He heard someone called his name.

 

“Yong? Yong?” it was Claudine. Another voice joined her.

 

“I know how to wake unconscious people up.” It sounded dangerously familiar, “Wait, let me warm up a bit.”

 

Yong’s brain went into override when he realised it was Belle. He shot up immediately to stop her, “Ah! W-wait…” but then let out a confused noise when he saw more Alliance members behind them. The night had fallen and the moon shone brightly. While the deck looked dim and he was still groggy, it was definitely not Crystal Garden.

 

“Where is this…?” asked Yong.

 

“You are on the Black Heaven’s deck.” replied Claudine. “Because of your hard work, the Alliance can now take over here.”

 

He looked around to see metal gears and shipping containers. More Alliance members were walking about, carrying supplies. Some stood in a line as they were waiting to receive orders. More Alliance-affiliated ships flew past the deck. 

 

“Ah... that’s right.” Yong nodded, his head became clearer. He smiled at Claudine, “Claudine, it’s thanks to you that I survived.”

 

Claudine looked guilty, “...I don’t deserve your gratitude.”

 

“Hey, you there! Quit chatting over here.”

 

Yong was surprised to see Belle approached. “Yong, I’m glad that you’re fine. I heard a lot happened because of us?”

 

“Belle? Checky? Brighton? What happened?”

 

“This master helped us. To be able to save us in that situation, there is only one pilot who have such skills in Maple World.” Brighton pointed at a familiar-looking old man standing on a compartment with his plane. His green uniform gave an authoritative presence.

 

“Hmph. It is Gelimer’s work, of course that’s got to be a trap.” Irvine waited for his praises, but Yong still could not remember the old man.

 

“Who is that?”

 

The awkward silence marched on as Irvine continued to watch the moon. Claudine got his attention back, “I heard from  _ Goofy, Dolphy and Leafy _ .  _ About how Black Heaven and Lotus are connected _ , and…” She inhaled before continuing, “How you entered through the Mechanical Grave.” 

 

She bowed at him, making Yong flabbergasted.  “... Let me apologise on behalf of everyone here. I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.” 

 

Cygnus and Nineheart made their appearances. Cygnus addressed him, “Yong, I’m glad that everyone’s fine.” She smiled brightly at him.

 

“It’s thanks to you, we get to board Black Heaven’s deck.” Nineheart voiced his thoughts, “... To be honest, I was really surprised. Without you, this would be impossible.

 

“Everyone, the war is not over yet,” Cygnus announced.

 

Claudine being surprisingly motivating, “In the looming darkness, we must fight as one.” She shouted, “As one Alliance!”

 

Cygnus followed up, “As one Alliance!”

 

Everyone cheered as their spirits were lifted. Their cheer rang throughout the deck and into the night, celebrating their success on the first step of defeating Black Heaven.

 

………………

 

“Finally...I found it.”

 

Francis roamed in one of the storage space beneath Edelstein. It took him a whole day, but he had finally found the Secret Plaza. “This is the Resistance’s base.”

 

His face blushed suddenly, knowing that he got to meet his love soon. “Lady Orchid, please wait for me~” He let out a giggle and sneaked into the room. As he entered, the route to the infirmary was heavily guarded with Resistance members and security cameras. “But it still wouldn’t stop me, haha!”

 

He managed to find a crate and whenever there was a guard, he hid beneath it and waited for them to leave. A classic move. He had to resist the urge to roll up his right sleeve to unleash the Black Flame Dragon sealed beneath it (definitely not lying). He thought about Orchid along the way just to make it through (confidence boost!). He made it past the gates and sneaked into the infirmary without much trouble.

 

In the infirmary, two guards stood near the door. The now awake Orchid sat her bed, presumably daydreaming. The guard striked a conversation.

 

“The skies must be raging war now, right?”

 

“Hmph, we should be fighting the Black Wings as well!”

 

“Those troublesome people we need to watch…”

 

A puppet appeared between them and Orchid. It floated and reeked hostility. It gave Francis enough time to sneak up on them and knocked them out cold. Francis walked towards Orchid, almost hopping. Orchid got down her bed and stood there. 

 

“Lady Orchid, I brought you things!” She was still daydreaming and Francis was ignored. “Lady Orchid?”

 

“Lotus…” she muttered.

 

“Orchid’s acting weird…”

 

She was lost in her thoughts, she remembered something about her past, “I...remember it. Everything…” She sighed, “Everything was all Orchid’s fault… That time, Lotus...”

 

“Lady Orchid! Lady Orchid!” Francis called her name to no avail, she kept ignoring him. He shouted at her, “LADY ORCHID!!”

 

“Shut up!”

 

She crossed her arms, “Can’t you see I was thinking, you moron!”

 

“ _ *Gasp*,  _ it’s Orchid! The usually Orchid is back!”   
  


“Of course it’s the usually me, who else!” She demanded her attire, “Jacket!”

 

“Yes, ma’am!” Francis happily handed her the jacket. She draped it over her shoulders.

 

“Is the airship ready?” she demanded.

 

“The airship?” 

 

“I gonna teach Gelimer a lesson! That baldie. I’m going to pluck his remaining hair off.” Orchid smirked dangerously. Francis gulped.

 

“Goodness.”

 

“Don’t just stand there! Lead the way!”

 

“Yes!” He turned to the exit, but stop to ask something. “Then Orchid’s Black Wings will rise again~?”

 

“...What nonsense is that? Black Wings is Orchid’s! I will bring back Lotus and returning Black Wings to their former glory.” She declared.

 

“Yes, Lady Orchid! I’ll follow you until the end!” Then he left.

 

Orchid let go her strong front and talked to herself, “Lies. The moment we get aboard Black Heaven may be Orchid’s end.”

 

She said with determination, “... Wait for me, Lotus. I’m coming for you.” She smiled, “... That’s right, we can go back like what we’re used to.”

 

………..…….

 

“Welcome to my fortress, ladies and gentlemen.”

 

In the depths of Black Heaven, Gelimer showed no concern and doubt in the turn of events.

 

“Come, get closer.  **The Black Heaven is ready** . Hehehehe…  _ Ehehehehe _ !”

  
  
  


_ To be continued... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In TMS, for One-Eye, the player is soft, like a snake. He called him 鲁蛇(lǔ shé) which sounds like 'loser'. 
> 
> The battle on deck was quite hectic, though. And the player could wipe them all out? Alliance should be glad the player is on their side instead of their enemy's.


	5. Act 5: Towards the Core!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the return of the Resistance Instructors, the Alliance advanced to the core of Black Heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this act, I thought it would have less words since most scenes involved fighting and puzzle solving.
> 
> I was wrong. This became the act with the most words due to the info dump.

The Alliance had formed an airtight defense on the Black Heaven deck, preventing the Black Wings’ attempts at retaking the main deck. After getting a well-deserved rest, Yong was ready to join his next mission. He stood near the entrance and waited for the others. Cygnus decided to see him off.

 

“Yong, are you all healed up? The advance team has already entered _Black Heaven interior_ to secure our route. They’re waiting for you.” Cygnus hesitated before continuing, “...As your friend, I want to stop you from participating this operation. You have done enough in fighting our enemies. But as a leader of the Alliance, I couldn’t overlook your strong fighting abilities. Promise me, Yong. You will return safely.”

 

As empty as the promise might seemed, Yong still reassured her. “Just trust in me.”

 

“Alright, I trust you,” Cygnus smiled.

 

Nineheart and Irvine appeared from the doorway and greeted them. “You recovered already? It must be nice to be young,” Irvine commented.

 

“The advance team secured a route. We should head down as well,” said Nineheart.

 

“Yong. Please return safely.”

 

“Hm. Don’t worry, Cygnus. This lad is the best I’ve ever seen.” Irvine reassured her.

 

The odd trio headed down into the entrance. When they got out of the hallway, they were marvelled at the sheer size of the interior of Black Heaven. The giant space was hallow, saved for numerous floating platforms, metal crates, conveyor belts, ladders, trampolines and platforms that acted like elevators. The continuation of their route was in the other end of this space.

 

“That Gelimer… Is it really this huge?” It sounded Irvine knew Gelimer personally.

 

“This place is only the entrance. There are thousands of space like this in Black Heaven.” Nineheart informed and Yong’s jaws slacked.

 

“Thousands?! Geez, that fella… that was quite an achievement.” Irvine turned to Nineheart, “But you aren’t think about searching every area, are you?”

 

“Impossible. I’ve already plotted a path in my head. We’re going straight to the _enemy’s heart_ , using the shortest route.”

 

To meet up with the others, they must first made it through this ridiculously enormous space. Going from platform to platform, they proceeded with precaution because falling down into an endless drop would problematic, especially when you were with a veteran in his golden years and a tactician that lacked coordination. They could hear Irvine’s knees cracked when they landed from a trampoline at one point, so they rested. On the way, Irvine commented on Nineheart’s lack of guts as he screamed while they flew and landed onto a platform.

 

When they reached the midpoint, they could see Athena, Goofy, Dolphy, Leafy, Claudine, Belle and Brighton waiting for them near a mechanical door. They were on a platform at the other side of the space.

 

“Ah, I see the tactician and Captain.” Goofy reported.

 

“Yong! We’ll wait for you here!” Athena Pierce’s shout reached them.

 

They slowly made their way through the remaining space. Irvine insisted on going on the ladders first to keep up with the much younger Yong and Nineheart. Some time later, Irvine asked if Nineheart was wearing a skirt (It was not a skirt, although it looked similar). Nearing the end, Irvine complained that he should have just flew in with his plane in this place.

 

They climbed up the final ladder and met up with advance team. The Ereve Bowmen Trio flocked to their Captain to check his condition.

 

“You look a lot better, Captain.” Dolphy commented.

 

“I knew it, it’s more reassuring to have Yong with us!” Belle remarked.

 

“Besides Yong, everyone that gathered here are the elite members of the Alliance.” Nineheart had this odd smile on his face.

 

“That’s right, everyone here possess outstanding fighting abilities.” Claudine then added while staring at Nineheart, “Except for one.”

 

“You mean the one with a sleeping mask?” Nineheart retaliated without missing a beat.

 

Claudine, whose face was red with anger and embarrassment yelled back at him, “How could you say it’s a sleeping mask!! It’s a disguise!!”

 

“To be frank, no matter how many times I look it at, it still looks _very_ funny.” His voice went significantly softer at the word ‘very’, but it did not went unheard by Claudine.

 

“What did you say!!”

 

Irvine on the other hand was amused by this exchange. “You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer… Why don’t you two just get married?”

 

At this point, everyone was losing it. Yong was holding back his laughter, Athena Pierce resisted a smile on her neutral face and the others teasingly seconded the suggestion. Claudine and Nineheart were speechless.

 

“How about that? This would also bring the Alliance closer!” Belle patted Claudine who was still mortified at the suggestion.

 

“I shall be the host~” Dolphy volunteered to lead their nonexisting wedding.

 

Irvine chuckled, “Then I will officiate it.”

 

“...Enough said, let’s just go.” Nineheart remained stoic, but they were sure he was taken back by it as well.

 

Athena Pierce approached the door and the doorway revealed a large iron platform that was holded by two giant robotic arms. As they boarded the elevator and began their descend to the bottom of the area, the figures on an electrical board started changing. The silence marched on uncomfortably, so Brighton spoke up.

 

“... It’s a long way down. This airship truly is absurdly large.”

 

“Speaking of which, Irvine! You said that you used to work with Gelimer?” asked Belle.

 

“That’s true. Since it's still a long way down, I will tell you a story… That was 50 years ago.” Irvine took out a photograph that contained three people. Everyone crowded around him. He pointed at the man on the left with a pilot hat. “I was the best officer in the Edelstein Air Force.”

 

“You might be just exaggerating…” Belle muttered. Knowing Irvine’s narcissistic nature, that might be accurate.

 

Irvine ignored her and pointed at the stoic man with sideburns in a general uniform on the right. “ _Martini_ was the charismatic Navy officer.” Brighton hummed in interest.

 

He then pointed at the man in the middle, sporting a high short ponytail being tied by a beaded hair tie and wore glasses. He seemed to be a scientist, with his labcoat and clipboard. He was holding a teddy bear and looked into the lens with big bright eyes. “And _Gelimer_ was an up-and-coming genius scientist.”

 

No one was expecting the wide-eyed, innocent-looking scientist to be the same psychopathic scientist that experimented on living beings. The Resistance Instructors practically blew up at the reveal.

“How is this possible!!” Belle yelled in utter disbelief.

 

………………

 

_50 years ago, a heated disagreement occurred among the three co-workers when Irvine returned to find out something rather disturbing in Edelstein._

 

_“To think they enforce experiments on living subjects! When did Edelstein stoop this low?”_

 

_“This isn’t immoral, Irvine. This is necessary to protect our home from evil forces.” Martini responded indifferently. Irvine turned to Gelimer who was present._

 

_“Gelimer, what do you think? Are you really going to experiment on live subjects? Say something, Gelimer!”_

 

_“... I did thought about experimenting on it.” was his answer._

 

………………

 

“Gelimer was left. As a scientist, between _conscience_ and _curiosity, curiosity_ would triumph in the end. And the result… Well, I don’t need to tell you that. No one was evil from the beginning. But one wrong step and everything changed.” Irvine glanced around the chamber. “But there’s one _question remained unsolved_. What was the experiment he wanted to conduct?”

 

“Wasn’t it the Black Heaven?” Belle asked with confusion.

 

“He was interested in medical and biotechnology, not mechanical engineering. He never cared about machinery like this.” Irvine explained, giving more insight in Gelimer’s schemes.

 

“Whatever his purpose is, we would never forgive Gelimer.” Claudine declared.

 

“I know. Everything was because I didn’t do much to steer him away from this path before it was too late.” Irvine pleaded slightly, “...Please. Stop him for me.”

 

………………

 

The moment the elevator stopped at a new area, the electronic board read D1Z05001. Irvine had headed back to the entrance. Before they headed into the area D1, Nineheart showed them a blue electronic board with grids.

 

“This is a _radar_ . It was built according to Francis’s blueprint. It seems to be working fine.” He pointed at the red square in the middle. “The red square on the radar shows the place with a _elevator._ There’s not enough time to perfect it into full schematics. We will make notes as we go. Come on, let’s move. _”_

 

They nodded and walked down the path with precaution and weapons drawn. Nineheart stopped abruptly as he remembered something. The elevator needed a _security chip_ to operate, so they tried getting them from the androids nearby and gave some damaged chips for Nineheart to analyse. They found a hidden route in the surprisingly spacious pipes and made their way to the end. Dolphy suddenly spoke again.

 

“Brother, do you remember a guy called Brighton from the Resistance?”

 

“Brother…! Isn’t Brighton right behind us…” Leafy whisper-shouted.

 

“What?! That’s how he looked like without the bear mask!?” Dolphy looked mind blown.

 

“Brother...That one is Checky…” Leafy facepalmed.

 

Belle doubled up in laughter, “He IS a chicken!”

 

They got out of the pipes and found the elevator. Nineheart tried to open it the damaged security chips to no avail, so they all went on a different route to get an undamaged one. On their next location, they stumbled upon a locked door. There were three pressure plates on the ground beside it.

 

“There’re three pressure plates?” Dolphy pointed out.

 

“And there’s three of us, right?” Goofy signaled his siblings.

 

“Brother… Quit stalling, get up one by one to see what happens.” Leafy had her brothers and herself to step onto the pressure plates. One by one, they got on and the door opened. However, the moment one of them left, the door would closed back. Which meant that the trio would have to stay behind, making Yong hesitated. They reassured that they would find another route and catch up to them, so they urged the others to go on without them.

 

In the area beyond the locked door, the remaining team found a Black Wings officer had a security chip hung around his neck. They creeped up on him and ambushed the unsuspecting officer, retrieving the security chip. They found another route back to the elevator through another pipe. On the way, Brighton started using cheesy pickup lines on Belle again, making the others uncomfortable.

 

They got out and used the security chip on the elevator door. It opened and they were taken to a new area. Nineheart commented that he felt the place was getting larger as they advanced.

 

They reached area D1Z33001 and moved on. The radar reseted and the red square changed location. An additional yellow dot on one of the grids suggested a place that had security passes. They would need to pass through the yellow dot area followed by the red one to minimize the time spent there.

 

They used a route that was out of the grid so they kept quiet to not alert the security. Belle suggested beating the patrol robots but was shot down immediately. The Alliance went back onto the grid and making turns here and there, avoiding enemy confrontations. That place started to feel like a maze. As they were nearing the yellow dot region, the route was blocked by a giant metal crate. That thing could not be moved by sheer strength, so Nineheart suggested a bomb should be used. By using some unstable battery and a couple of wires, he made a crude-looking bomb. Yong attached it to the crate and lighted it up. The crate was blown away and the path was open.

 

At the yellow dot area, there was a security personnel as excepted. They obtained the security pass from the officer. After finding another way to the red area via pipes, they entered the pipes and headed to the end. Nineheart corrected Belle who was praising Checky for making the radar, as he was the one that made with Checky assisting. _Who would have thought that Nineheart is good with electronics?_

 

As they were exiting the pipes, they overheard a conversation with two overly-familiar voices.

 

“This is the right way. Trust me, Lady Orchid.”

 

“You keep saying the same thing since just now!”

 

The Alliance was surprised to see Orchid and Francis roaming in Black Heaven. Orchid, now wearing pigtails with bunny hair ties and her Black Wings attire minus the hat, was yelling at Francis. Yong went ahead and made his presence known to the duo, followed by the rest of the Alliance members. Francis was surprised to meet them, but not in a good way.

 

“Ack, the ones I don’t want to meet the most…” Francis slowly back away, but Orchid stepped forward.

 

“What, aren’t you the dummies of the Alliance?”

 

“Orchid? Aren’t you supposed to be in the infirmary? Why are you here?” Orchid scoffed at Athena Pierce.

 

“Hmph, would Orchid stay at a crummy place like that?” Orchid trained her eyes over the crowd before her, but she stopped when she saw Yong. She pointed her finger at the confused Yong angrily. “Y-you!”

 

“Yong? Lady Orchid know him too?” Francis got closer.

 

“You peeked into my heart!” She became more incoherent, “How dare you look into Orchid’s… She never let the others see them…!”

 

“...What did you see, Yong?” Nineheart looked at him accussively.

 

“Yong is a pervert…?” Claudine became cautious.

 

Yong turned at them and sighed, “This is a misunderstanding. I only saw her memories…”

 

“Don’t say anything more! How much did you see!” Orchid ordered Francis, “Unforgivable! _Fight him, Francis!_ ”

 

Yong stepped forward, prepared to fight, but Francis was too scared. “About that… He’s kinda strong.”

 

Everyone could not help but pity the weak puppeteer, except Orchid who was disappointed. Nineheart stepped in before a fight broke out.

 

“Hold it. Our true enemy here is Gelimer. There’s no need to waste our energy here.”

 

Orchid knew what Nineheart was impling, “What? Quit joking. You want to team up with us? Why should Orchid believe in you?”

 

“...Is that so. What to do, Yong?” Nineheart asked the warrior.

 

“Let’s persuade her.” Yong rather fight Gelimer than wasting energy on Orchid.

 

“You’re right, I have to focus on our current target.” Nineheart agreed.

 

“Hmph, do you really think that you’ll have your way? I’ll let you know, Orchid will get Lotus back no matter what!”

 

“...What a foolish thought. **That thing** isn’t human anymore.” Nineheart said tactlessly. “Besides, Lotus’s body is under Gelimer’s control. If you two meet up, he will surely attack you.”

 

“Shut up! What did you know about Lotus?”

 

Suddenly, a large blue holographic screen appeared beside the walkway they were standing. Gelimer grinned at those before him and let out a small chuckle.

 

“What do you think, Orchid? Are you happy with my masterpiece?”

 

“Gelimer…!” She grimaced and her voice spat venom.

 

“Hehehe...Not a bad look. Wanna see something more interesting?” Gelimer grinned wider.

 

A blue hologram of Lotus appeared before them and an aura surrounded his figure. Orchid went near the hologram.

 

“Lotus!”

 

“Whoa, what a tear jerking reunion! Hehehehe!” Gelimer cackled.

 

“Gelimer… I’ll get rid of you myself!” Orchid’s declaration caused the hologram to speak.

 

“... Intruder located.”

 

“Lotus, wake up! Orchid is here!” She begged him to come back to his senses in vain.

 

“ **Eliminate the target.** ”

 

“Lotus!”

 

A Pulverizer materialised high above them and slammed down onto the walkway. The impact knocked both Orchid and Yong off the walkway, as they were the closest to the machine. They let out a scream as they fell off into the abyss. Francis and Nineheart tried to reach for their respective allies, but failed and watched their descend.

 

“Lady Orchid!”

 

“Yong!”

 

………………

 

Black Heaven Interior, somewhere deep in the hold

 

It was another slow day for a blue repairoid and its friend. After getting some maintenance done, they headed to the glass door before them. Two buttons were placed on the inside and the other side of the glass door respectively. The repairoid’s friend pushed the button on the inside, the glass door opened and letting it outside. Its friend waited for it to push the button outside. The repairoid held the button down only to release it when its friend was near. After receiving warning shocks from its friend, it let its friend through. However, a boy in brown landed roughly behind his friend, cause the repairoid to be startled and let go of the button. The glass door slammed down mercilessly onto its friend and was destroyed. The repairoid watched as another girl landed on the boy’s back squarely. The boy yelped and the repairoid retreated.

 

“Ugh…” Orchid recomposed herself and yelled, unaware of the soft ground she landed on. “Damn it! Gelimer! That stupid baldie. Francis. Francis! Answer me!”

 

She looked around her, her eyes fixed on the glass door, “... Am I trapped? I need to get to Lotus…” She stood up on Yong’s back, ready to go.

 

Her action caused Yong to stir. He let out a painful groan, startling Orchid. “Urgh…”

 

Orchid jumped off his back, taking a few steps back. “Ah! What is this?” Yong got up slowly and took in the surroundings. Her eyes became wider, “You...The one from earlier?”

 

“Ugh… My back. It seems to be just you and me that fell down here.” Yong rubbed his aching back.

 

“Why does it have to be you… Hmph, everything was going badly…” She ordered him, “You! If you don’t want to get involved, then stay here.”

 

Orchid pressed the button and left for the opened door, but it closed back once she released the button. “What? Why is this happening? That baldie really pull off every trick he got. Hmm…” She walked back and tried again unsuccessfully.

 

“It seems that need two people to open it.” Yong pointed out.

 

“Shut up! I knew that!”

 

“Both of us need to get out of here. Don’t you want to save Lotus as fast as possible?”

 

Orchid was quiet for a moment, then she order him, “...Hmph, get here and hold the button down.”

 

He hold the button down and the glass door opened. Orchid got out and stopped near the button, her back facing him. He walked near the glass door, “...I trust you.” Seconds passed and neither of them moved. “Orchid?”

 

She held the button outside down and let Yong out. They looked at each other, Orchid raised an eyebrow. “What? Let go. You lead.”

 

They found their route in the form of pipes. While Orchid was muttering something about Lotus and Gelimer, she caught Yong stared at her curiously and chewed him off.

 

On the other end, the repairoid from before got out and escaped into a new room. Three power sources with three primary colours have tiny pipes connected to large device that looked a robot’s face that powered the glass door. The robot kept running, but stopped when it realised that it was floating due to the blowing steam from the gated holes on the floor. It then decided to hinder the intruders’ progress, so it tore some of the pipes apart and swallowed them. The device’s power began to wane. As the two exited the pipes, Orchid noticed the blue robot.

 

“Ah! That!”

 

The repairoid panicked and tore off more pipes, disabling the device before retreating into the pipe opening a few metres above them. Orchid and Yong followed it only to find it hiding in the midst of more blue repairoid. Orchid walked forward to get the pipes back, but was attacked by one of them.

 

“Ugh… This is frustrating… If only my power aren’t taking, these things…” Orchid turned to Yong, “Orchid is powerless, what to do?”

 

Yong decided it was his time to step up. “Wait, Orchid. I’ll deal with these androids.”

 

Orchid went quiet, then said, “...Hmph, isn’t that obvious? What are you doing, hurry up!”

 

Yong attacked the horde of repairoids while Orchid stood at the sidelines. The one that stole the wires had escaped and planted the pipe pieces on other repairoids. After retrieving the missing pipe pieces, they went back to the device. Yong placed and fixed all the pieces back as Orchid gave his directions. Before long, the device were connected to the power sources and the buttons were activated.

 

“It’s complete. Hurry up and push the button.” Orchid ordered him. As Yong pushed the button, she praised him and she exited the room. She held the button on the outside without saying much. _She didn’t say anything…?,_ Yong thought when he left the room. She stared at him and turned back to normal. “What? Lead the way.”

 

They entered the pipes again as they walked on. On the way, Orchid asked him. “...What did you see in my memories?”

 

“You and Lotus in the past.”

 

“Me and Lotus?”

 

“From when you’re spirits, up until now.”

 

They continued their way down in comfortable silence. She asked again.

 

“Was there anything strange?”

 

“What?” Yong turned his head to her.

 

“I asked if there’s anything strange in my memories.”

 

“I can’t remember correctly.”

 

They went down the path again. Moments later, she accused him.

 

“You are lying, right?”

 

“What is it this time?”

 

“You’re lying, you saw something in my memories.”

 

Yong did not answer that. When they finally reached the end, Orchid declared that, “I’m only staying with you until we get out of here.”

 

They exited into a much larger area with a similar device from before, only to find that the pipes were broken and missing once again. The repairoid took out the last pipe piece and swallowed it before escaping into another pipe opening. They went after the repairoid and retrieved the missing pipe pieces from more of them. Much like before, Yong fixed the pipe pieces back while Orchid helped to check if the pipes were placed correctly. After they were done, Yong pushed the button and let Orchid out of the glass door. She then repeated the action for him.

 

“Do you trust me now?” asked Yong.

 

“What are you staring at? Lead the way.”

 

They went into the larger pipes and headed forward. Orchid muttered about Lotus again. She also tried to tell Yong something, but gave up after a few false starts.

 

……………....

 

They exited the pipe and saw the elevator just a few metres away outside the durable glass door.

 

“We’re finally out.”

 

Orchid smiled as Yong held down the button for her to leave the room. She paused near the button but did not pushed it. Yong waited for her from the other side of the door. She finally spoke up.

 

“We’re through here.”

 

“What?”

 

She did not say anything more. Francis ran up to her, relieved to see her safe.

 

“Ah! Lady Orchid! There you are.” Francis then noticed Yong, “Oh? You’re here too?”

 

Orchid spoke, her back facing Yong. “Orchid…” She then faced him firmly. “Orchid… will save Lotus. Not you. I can’t trust the Alliance who think of Lotus as a monster. Let’s go, Francis!”

 

Francis eagerly obeyed, “Let’s go, Lady Orchid!” He told Yong, who was still trapped. “Sorry, I am still only loyal to Lady Orchid. Hehe!”

 

They began to walk off, leaving him behind. Francis went up ahead as she trailed back.

 

“Orchid!” Yong called out at her. She stopped and muttered something.

 

“I guess. How to say this? Hm, thank you for your hard work. Then, farewell.” She walked off to catch up with Francis.

 

Yong watched as they left when he heard something from behind. He backed himself against the glass door when he saw the repairoid summoned some battle androids from the pipe opening. He scowled as more of them appeared and he drew his sword. Yong destroyed the androids as fast as he could while thinking of an escape route. He soon found himself being  overwhelmed by the endless waves of androids that flooded the small room. He was quickly grabbed down by a few of them. The other androids kept attacking him while he was immobilised. He felt strength waning and the situation seemed dire.

 

Suddenly, a flurry of arrows and electrical charge hit the androids, destroying them. Yong saw Belle, Claudine, Athena Pierce, Brighton and Nineheart at the entrance, the glass door opened.

 

“We made it in time!” Claudine exclaimed.

 

“Yong!!” Belle put down her crossbow as he got out. The glass door closed and they all checked on him to ensure he was unharmed.

 

“That was close.” Brighton patted his back.

 

“I don’t know what is Francis even thinking.” Claudine shook her head.

 

“Francis?” Yong asked.

 

“We passed him and Orchid on the way. He told us to hurry this way.”

 

“What was he scheming?” Brighton wondered out loud.

 

“I’m glad we get to reunite. There’re a lot to share, but we don’t have much time. Let’s quicken our pace, to the elevator!”

 

Nineheart led the others to the elevator and tested the security chip. The elevator door opened and they were brought to a area, D3Z11001. They were at the large spaces just like the ones at the entrance. An elevator was available one of the platforms. They all got onto another platform to obtain the entry pass from another officer. Nineheart used it and the elevator door opened. The elevator brought them to D3Z38001. The process repeated even as they reached D3Z57001. The entrance was filled with androids and the route was stopped by a glass door to the next area. After destroying more android, Nineheart took the opportunity to note about something.

 

“It feels like a lot of androids will appear in this area.”

 

“Although we got rid of some, the amount of enemies are still astounding.” Athena Pierce agreed.

 

“In an area that’s more advantageous for our enemies like this, if a more powerful android attack us… The outcome would be ugly.” Nineheart shuddered.

 

“Then leave this area to us. At least we can hold back those that attack from behind.” Belle threw her arms around Brighton’s shoulder.

 

“That’s right, it’s been a while since it’s just the both of us, don’t come and interrupt us.”

 

“Belle, Brighton! Please be careful!” Claudine yelled back at them as the remaining four went forth.

 

Yong, Athena Pierce and Claudine attacked and destroyed the incoming androids as they advanced. They obtained the entry pass and headed to the elevator. They reached what seemed to be a storage for Demolishizers. Yong rode one and he cut through the army of androids and glass doors while the others followed closely behind him. Yong got off the overpowering machine when they reached the elevator and headed off to the next location.

 

………………..

 

The elevator seemed to lead to a completely different level, because they were surrounded by gears that kept the ship going. Claudine was worried about the others that fell back.

 

“Will everyone be fine?”

 

“They will fine. They are all very powerful.” Athena Pierce consoled her.

 

“... Very well. Since we’ve already here, all we can do is to trust our allies and move forward. Now there’s only one area left, right Nineheart?”

 

Nineheart was not listening, so he said, “...Oh, I apologised. I was thinking about something else.”

 

“Something else?” Athena Pierce got concerned.

 

“Isn’t it strange? I have been thinking since we entered… We always thought that Black Heaven would have ample android armies. But in reality, there isn’t much in here.” Nineheart laid his thoughts out.

 

“They get their army through the Mechanical Grave, shouldn’t this be normal?” Claudine was skeptical.

 

“That’s what I was wondering. If that so, what is in the **giant cargo hold of Black Heaven**?”

 

Now that was surprising, they never thought of something that was more important than the mechanical soldiers was placed in the cargo hold of this ship. They recovered from their shock immediately.

 

“I never put much thought into that.” Athena Pierce said.

 

“I think we will know in the next area.” Nineheart looked forth at the endless chamber of gears.

 

………………

 

When they stepped into area D7Z77001, they were not prepared to see what was before them.

 

“This is…!” Nineheart’s sentence stopped midway.

 

The place appeared to be a factory to manufacture giant bombs. The machine built the giant bombs and filled them with a green liquid. More bombs lined up enough to form a wall on a section of the space. The walkways were heavily guarded by Xenoroids that kept coming in.

 

“A huge amount of bombs.” Athena Pierce grimaced.

 

“Gelimer… What have he done!” Claudine’s fist turned white.

 

They cleared the walkways before advancing. They kept walking and was astounded as they saw more bombs. Nineheart pointed out that those bombs were not ordinary.

 

At certain points, some part of the walkway was hung up high by chains, making it incomplete and needed to be brought down by a lever. There was one lever that was out of reach and Claudine used her whip to activate it. Nineheart made a remark about Claudine being good at whipping. She was not sure if it was a compliment.

 

The next one had its lever broken. Athena Pierce proceeded to shot the walkway down with an arrow. Claudine said they should have used her arrows from the start. Athena Pierce praised her use of whip and Nineheart said the same thing snarkily. Claudine shushed him immediately.

 

They finally reached an area that would lead them to an elevator. Before anyone could advance, Athena Pierce pointed that the area ahead was filled with strange green gas. They got some gas mask from the rack nearby and moved forward. The gas cartilage was limited, but they were not staying there for long either.

 

They arrived at Gelimer’s lab. It had two glass tube filled with the same green gas that filled the room, as well as a chemist’s table. A large map of Maple World was plastered along with notes on the walls. The portraits of Cygnus and Nineheart was pasted on the left side of the map while Claudine’s and Athena Pierce’s were on the right side. Leaning onto one of the tubes was Admiral Martini, who looked very pale. Sensing their presence, he looked up to greet them.

 

“It’s you guys?” Martine chuckled weakly.

 

“You’re poisoned, put this gas mask on…!” He brushed off the extra gas mask Athena Pierce brought.

 

“ _*Low chuckle*_ Forget it, I will still die regardless of the poison, it is just the matter of time.”

 

“Does Gelimer did this?” asked Nineheart.

 

“He’s mad, you must stop him. Even if he was a comrade… Siding with him temporarily was a mistake. I regretted to feel the mortality of humans… Though I used to believe his words of human being immortal… Eternity… Heaven… Irvine was right. That isn’t the domain of the living…”

 

“Get to the point! What are the bombs for? Gelimer’s aim?” Nineheart got impatient with Martini. Martini tutted at his words.

 

“... You don’t even want to listen to the will of a dying old man. You are quite heartless…”

 

Nineheart must had felt guilty, because he kept quiet. Yong sighed at his tactlessness.

 

“...To waste such a short life…” Martini lamented before closing his eye. His face went slack and his face looked peaceful.

 

“...It was too late for that.” Athena Pierce said to the fallen Admiral with sadness.

 

“To throw away his past ally like it was nothing… I could never get where did Gelimer’s evil stems from.” Claudine was shaking with fury.

 

“Let’s search around, we might find a clue about Gelimer’s goal.”

 

Nineheart’s voice brought them back on track. They spreaded out and search the lab with a fine-tooth comb. Yong came across some stack of research notes on the table. Nineheart looked over his shoulder to read the title, “...This research is about the Seal Stone. Want to take a look?”

 

Yong flipped through the notes and read it out loud. Athena Pierce and Claudine stopped to listen as well.

 

_“INTRODUCTION:_

_The Black Wings almost went crazy in their search for the Seal Stones._

_What exactly are Seal Stone? I started the research based on personal interest._

 

_FINDINGS:_

_The Seal Stone has the following characteristics:_

 

  * __An eye-catching gem shape.__


  * _Contain incredible powers that can even surpass a Transcendent._


  * _Many requirements must be met to use, but most importantly the desperate wish of many._


  * _Once demonstrate power greater than cause and effect, the Seal Stone will break._



 

 

_In short, the Seal Stone is a magic crystal that grant wishes of the mass._

_It can even turn back time if the people wish to return to the past. It will not grant the wish of an individual._

 

_Even if there’s one Seal Stone left, Black Mage cannot regain his full power._

_It's the wish of the mass._

_Even with that stone, Black Mage’s power remain binded in the past._

 

…(skip)...

_Can I use the Seal Stone’s power in my experiment?_

 

…(skip)...

_The power of science isn’t helping._

 

_Legend said the Seal Stone was created by a young magician centuries ago. But the theory of turning people’s wishes into power was too fictional, thus abandoned._

 

…(skip)...

_The Black WIngs only need one more Seal Stone to complete the collection._

_The last one is in the Empress’s possession, in Ereve._

 

_CONCLUSION_

_This is a useless research._

_At least for me, the Seal Stone doesn’t contain valuable energy. I will go back to my original experiments.”_

 

Yong placed the notes back. It seemed that Gelimer was looking for an energy source, but it did not explain anything about his aim. Nineheart inspected the ones next to the first one, “...This is his research on Lotus. Let’s take a look.”

 

They flipped through the notes and read it.

 

_“Lotus’s body was granted by the Black Mage. It was more beautiful and stronger than any other bodies I have collected._

 

…(skip)...

_I must own this body!_

 

_I need two plans. For Orchid, I will help her get Lotus back. For the other commanders, I will create a body that can hold the Black Mage’s spirit._

 

_Of course those are all lies. I cannot give this precious body to anyone else. This body exists for my ultimate plan._

 

…(skip)...

_To build Black Heaven, I took over Verne Mine. I need to collect a lot of resources._

 

…(skip)...

_Due to the lack of coolant, I decided to collect it in Rien. I need someone obedient and responsible._

_Nothing beats using an old friend. If he is dying, that is better._

 

…(skip)...

_The time has come. Lotus has completely reborn._

 

_The Wing Master’s power is divided into two beings._

_I shall have Lotus steal all of Orchid’s power. The complete Wing Master’s power can launch Black Heaven._

 

_As for a clean slate Lotus, he just need to gather combat data._

_I had created a self-evolving feature using the Evolving System. Using self-collecting combat datas as a base, Lotus will become stronger._

 

_To summarise, Lotus’s evolution will bring humans into evolution. My logic in this process is flawless.”_

 

Yong felt uncomfortable after reading it. He turned to see Nineheart eyeing the third stack of research notes, eager to know more. Nineheart looked at the other three, “You must read this.”

 

They all crowded around the notes and read it together.

 

_“It’s finally complete. The chemical bomb that can fulfill my ultimate plan -- Retoxin!_

 

_EXPERIMENT DAY 1_

_All test subjects will experience temporary paralysis. Although they return to normal after 10 minutes, a few test subjects suffer worse paralysis. Those that return to normal become lethargic and lack willpower. Those that remain paralysed die after 12 hours._

 

_EXPERIMENT DAY 2_

_The surviving test subjects start moving slowly. However, so far they cannot voice their opinion, and they don’t know what they’re doing._

 

_EXPERIMENT DAY 3_

_Thus far, the surviving test subjects have lost all kind of will. Without emotions, it seems they will also lost their purpose in life. They currently become more machine than human._

_My goal is within reach. The problem is how to mass produce the bombs._

 

_...It took me quite a long time._

_These bombs will cover all of Maple World. Once exposed to air and combined with the elements of the Earth, It will be easy to permeate into respiratory organs. With this, all humans will become my puppets._

 

_CONCLUSION_

_As long as you use your brain wisely, even vulgar humans can be useful parts._

_Connecting all the brains that have lost their ability to control themselves can show collective intelligence. Lotus’s body will serve as a hub._

 

_This is not a tragedy._

_It’s a revolution._

_It’s the evolution of humans._

 

_They will be proud of being including in my ultimate plan. That will also be the day my experiment ends._

_Before that, I must get rid of one last thing._

 

_That last thing…_

 

_Is you, the ones reading this!”_

 

They swore they could hear Gelimer’s laughter at the end. The temperature of that lab had dropped several degrees. The research notes left them speechless. Nineheart, who was studying the walls spoke up. “...Yong, would you like to turn off the lights of this room? Something was painted on the walls. There are some paint that aren’t visible beneath the light.”

 

Yong turned off the light switch. The dark room was illuminated by the paint on the walls. Various crosses littered throughout the map. Big cross marks painted the portraits of the Alliance leaders. After a thorough study on the map, Athena made a conclusion.

 

“...These are the bombing sites.”

 

“The Empress was right. Had we tried to defend ourselves from Black Heaven from the ground instead of the sky…”

 

“We will be doomed.” Athena completed Nineheart’s sentence.

 

“That’s right. Because their goal from the start is not invasion, but a bombardment.” Nineheart told them a conversation with Cygnus a few days ago.

 

………………

 

_“Empress, I must tell you something.”_

 

_“You’re thinking that this operation is reckless, isn’t it Nineheart?”_

 

_“...The Alliance are at a disadvantage in aerial battle. They lack experience and resources in the aerial fight. It’s still not too late. We should build anti-air defenses in every villages and face them from the land. We cannot afford losing in an aerial fight.” Cygnus inhaled and told her reason._

 

_“I saw the future. … Beyond the shadows, a giant covered the world’s future. Its head blocked out the sun, it could crush a village in one foot. The people could only cower in fear. As the last ray of sun disappeared behind him, and the land plunged into eternal despair… A flock of shining birds charged at the giant. After the blinding light, all the despair were gone, and the sun appeared once again. Nineheart, only we can change destiny.”_

 

_………………_

 

“Was that… foresight?” Athena Pierce muttered in disbelief. Yong was also dumbfounded.

 

“There’s no way to know. After Shinsoo left, the Empress did become a little different.” Claudine cut off Nineheart almost immediately.

 

“Wait, that’s not important! What if the bombs are dropped as planned?!”

 

“... We now know Gelimer’s aim. Me and Claudine will return swiftly and come up with a plan.”

 

“A plan? There is no way in stopping these many bombs! The first bombing site is Edelstein!” Claudine yelled back at Nineheart.

 

“Control yourself! If the bombing happened, we must do whatever it takes to minimise the damage.” Nineheart turned to the other two, “Athena Pierce, and Yong. You must stop Gelimer.”

 

They nodded and left the room with in a hurry. They rushed to the last elevator that would lead them to the core.

 

………………

 

The last elevator ride before reaching the core made Yong anxious. Athena Pierce was trying to calm his nerves by talking.

 

“I can feel it. We are getting closer to the core.” Athena Pierce exhaled, “...Gelimer, in the eyes of someone that was known as a genius since young… Do we look pathetic?”

 

Yong shrugged. She continued, “Gelimer wants human to evolute. He only cared for his own ambition.”

 

“...Are you saying we should understand him?” Yong was confused at her sudden philosophy.

 

“That’s not it. Maybe before all this could happen… If there’s someone to remind Gelimer, to tell him that it was wrong… These thought keep coming back in my mind.”

 

He hummed in understanding. As they waited, the blue holographic image of Gelimer appeared once again, surprising the duo. Yong reached for his sword.

 

“Gelimer…!” Athena Pierce readied her bow.

 

“Hehe, are we gathering for the last supper? How about one last game?” Gelimer pressed a button and Lotus’s hologram appeared before them. “My dinner fees are quite expensive. You can try and endure it! Hehehe!”

 

The hologram of Gelimer disappeared, leaving them alone with Lotus. Lotus began to summon scrap parts and dropped them onto the duo. They dodged them all with ease. However, as Lotus started to summon metal crates, robots and larger androids on them more frequently, they started to feel tired with all the footwork and narrowly escaped being crushed by those item. By the time they reached the top, their energy were mostly drained. They breathed heavily to recover from the prior assault.

 

“ _*Huff puff*_ The attack has finally stopped.” Athena PIerce sat on the ground.

 

“Athena Pierce, are you hurt?” Yong asked between pants, slowly recovering.

 

“Just a little tired. I think we made it. Can you scout ahead?”

 

Yong nodded and stood up slowly. He got off the elevator and examined the electrical board. It read D9Z99999. He checked the route ahead and saw a suspicious looking door at the end. He went back to notify Athena Pierce.

 

“I think there’s a magnetic field connected ahead.”

 

Athena Pierce got up and walked towards him. Before she got off the elevator though, Gelimer’s voice rang through the area.

 

“Have you ever heard this song? _London bridge is falling down_ , MY FAIR LADY! Heeheehee!”

 

A Pulverizer materialise above the elevator and slammed itself hard onto the platform. The impact knocked Athena Pierce off the elevator and she began to fall into the abyss. Yong tried to reach for her in vain.

 

“Athena!!”

 

“Go, Yong! Only you can stop Gelimer!”

 

Her word echoed throughout the chamber as Yong watched helpless at her fall.

 

 

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read the Mandarin name of the poison fast enough, it sounds like Retoxin so the name stays.
> 
> I've never heard of the song Gelimer used in TMS(a song that have 12 o'clock and the door closes?), so London Bridge(GMS) is used instead.


	6. Act 6: Black Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To take down Black Heaven, Yong now needed to defeat Lotus and Gelimer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally reaching the endgame. The fight scene are kind of hard to write, so it might looked a bit awkward.

Yong faced the long corridor that led to the core. He knew that Lotus was waiting for him beyond that door. Thinking back, it was everyone’s sacrifice and cooperation that led him down to this moment. Now, it was time to face this last decisive battle.

 

He approached the door, sword at the ready. He could feel something powerful and strong killing intent from within the core. He steeled his nerves and charged into the core.

 

…………………

 

In the dark room, Gelimer’s voice echoed.

 

“Hehehehehe! You have come this far after all. Allow me to introduce, my ultimate masterpiece!”

 

The dark room lit up slowly. Lotus’s body floated within a glass tube in the middle of the core. Multiple large cables connecting a large device at the base of the tube, letting out electrical sparks. Platforms that were built in levels were connected through ladders. There were four opened-capsules at the four corners of the core.

 

“As long as Lotus remains, you can’t stop Black Heaven. Let’s see if you are a worthy opponent!”

 

The core came to life and the base of the tube shot out deadly laser beams at four directions and rotated in clockwise direction. Yong got out of the laser’s way by utilising the platforms around him. Leaping from platform to platform, he threw slash after slash at the glass tube and the device. Mini self-destructing robots came out of the capsules and occasional debris fell upon him to hinder and kill the warrior. Yong found out difficult to avoid all their attacks while throwing heavy assault to Lotus’s glass prison as the laser beams unpredictably switched its spinning direction. The device got progressively more damaged as the fight raged on. With one final cry, Yong slammed his sword onto the glass tube hard. 

 

The glass tube broke, the device at its base exploded along with it. The platforms and capsules were gone in the same explosion. Lotus floated in the core, creating an energy ball in his hand and sent it bouncing around in the room. Its size increased as it hit the walls until it disappeared. Yong actively avoided that thing, along with more debris that rained down on him. He landed more attacks at Lotus, who tried to actively sent Yong upwards with anti-gravity beams and slammed him with a lot of wires. Both suffered a sufficient amount of damage from each other's attacks. Yong managed to get the upper hand with constant healing and enhancements and dealt more damage on Lotus. After a few more attacks, Lotus suddenly clutched his head. As Yong thought it was over, Lotus’s body gathered purple energy before letting it out with a loud cry. His body was surrounded by a strong surge of power. An explosion with blinding light caused Yong to shield his eyes as Lotus blew a giant opening in the core.

 

Yong was shocked to see Lotus being surrounded by a dark aura. Lotus used the same, but deadlier attacks from their earlier fight. This time, larger debris rained the core. Yong used the same strategy from before and attacked Lotus more frequently. Lotus rose high up in the air and surrounded himself with a large cloud of dark energy. Yong could only dodged as Lotus sent more energy balls at him, completely out of range. Lotus’s attack also became more aggressive as their battle raged on. With one final slash from Yong, Lotus’s body lost the menacing aura and was brought down to the ground, ending their battle.

 

Both fighters sank onto the ground, completely drained. Yong clutched his side while leaning onto his sword, covered in bruises and dust. Lotus was battered and bruised but slowly breaking out of Gelimer’s control, his long hair spilled down his back.

 

“ _ *Pant pant*, _ did I finally stop him?” Yong looked at his opponent’s state.

 

“I… Why am I here?” Lotus clutched his arms, winced in pain.

 

Gelimer’s hologram appeared above them. “What are you doing Lotus! You are my puppet! Now get up and fight!”

 

“... I’m… I’m…”

 

“A disobedient test subject will face punishment. With a press of this button… Hehe!” Gelimer pressed something and Lotus was electrocuted. He yelled out in pain.

 

“Ahh… Aahhhh!”

 

“Gelimer, stop!” Yong pleaded as he slowly got up.

 

“Which button to reset his memories! Hehehe!” Gelimer pressed more buttons and more electrical charges went through Lotus. Two more rounds of electrocution and Lotus rose anew. His eye glowed a menacing purple and floated a few centimetres above ground.

 

“Target… Eliminate.” He looked at Yong with hostility.

 

“That’s it, beautiful! Hehehe!” Gelimer cackled, pleased at his creation.

 

“Stop torturing Lotus!”

 

Yong turned to see Orchid had arrived the core. She stood beside him, “Lotus, you can stop now.”

 

She walked towards her brother steadily. She stopped when Lotus raised his hand at her.

 

“... Come any closer and I will destroy you.”

 

She ignored the threat and walked up to him. She gave him a hug and Lotus eventually returned to normal. He was no longer floated and fell into Orchid’s arm.

 

“...Orchid.” Lotus sighed, a smile on his face.

 

“It’s been a long time, Lotus.” Tears spilled out of her eyes. She wiped them off and continued, “It’s done. Let us turn back into spirits, Lotus. The Black Mage’s power will soon return fully. He will come for us.”

 

Lotus said slowly, “Orchid, you might not know… My soul could roam freely in Maple World.” Orchid’s eye widen. “I called you many times, but my voice never reached Orchid. At first I only felt resentment. I only want to bring despair to the one that did this to us. However… when I was controlled by Gelimer, the first time I hurt you, there’s something different. When I cried my first tear… It was strange. It felt like a miracle to be able to cry.”

 

He looked at Orchid in the eyes. “I want to live in a human’s body. Will you come with me, Orchid?”

 

She nodded furiously, “If that’s what Lotus wishes, Orchid is fine with that.”

 

The heartfelt moment however, was disrupted by Gelimer. “This ends here.” He pushed on a button and something shot through Lotus’s body. His body went limp and fell back into Orchid’s arms motionlessly.

 

“Lotus… Lotus?” He did not respond to her call. Dread started to filled her mind. “Lotus!”

 

She started sobbing as she clutched her brother tightly. Gelimer said something that anger Yong, who was watching as the scene unfolded.

 

“Failures should be disposed.”

 

“Gelimer… You still despicable until the end!” Yong shook with fury.

 

“Now, I should be the one getting mad! How dare you ruined the perfect body I worked so hard on!” Gelimer’s grin got wider, “Hehe… But the real show begins now. How about it? Are you going to stop me until the very end?” 

 

His cackle was the last thing they heard before the hologram went off. Yong headed off to where to find Gelimer. He stopped to look back at Orchid who was still holding Lotus’s body before continuing his mission.

 

The siblings remained when Francis barged into the core.

 

“Lady Orchid! Don’t leave me behind!” He got close to her, failing to notice her situation. “This is bad! Black Heaven’s altitude is dropping! We must go…”

 

Francis’s words trailed off when he realised Orchid was crying, “Lady Orchid…”

 

“...Lotus’s heart stopped beating.” She held him tighter. “Lotus...Lotus!”

 

……………....

 

_ Somewhere in the dark forest, Orchid ran around, excited at the new body they had received. She marvelled at the legs she had grew and shivered at the cold ground her feet was touching. All the while, Lotus watched with concern written on his face. _

 

_ “Now we can make more interesting pranks! I want to wear pretty clothes, taste delicious food...” _

 

_ “Orchid, becoming a human… For some reason, I feel scared.” Lotus voiced his worries. _

 

_ “Oh, Lotus. Are you still saying that?” _

 

_ “Can’t we just stay as spirits? This body… I feel I will turn into something I don’t know. What if something happen to one of us? I...I don’t to be alone, or you to be alone either!” _

 

_ “If that so we can just disappear together!” Lotus was surprised at the suggestion, Orchid kept explaining. “Orchid don’t need anything else, as long as I get to do interesting things with Lotus. Without Lotus, there is no Orchid. Without Orchid, there is no Lotus.” _

 

_ Orchid turned around to face him, “Us both have to stay together. Will you come with Orchid?” _

 

_ Lotus smiled back at her, “Yes, if Orchid like it, I like it too.” _

 

………………

 

Sparkles surrounded the siblings as they started to glow.

 

“Orchid, I give you the last of our powers,” Lotus said weakly. “You can use it as you wish. I want you to live, Orchid.”

 

Orchid looked at his brother in shock as she accepted their powers. Lotus began to disappear and his body faded into sparkles.

 

“...No, don’t go…”

 

“You promised, Orchid.”

 

She called helplessly as he disappeared completely.

 

“Don’t go… Lotus, don’t go…”

 

……………....

  
  


20 hours after entry, above Edelstein 

 

Yong was on warpath. To stop the war altogether, Gelimer must be defeated. He had to be somewhere where he could control and survey everything that happened on this ship. He destroyed every Xenodroids that flooded his path, leaving broken parts at his wake. Corridor after corridor, he had finally found Gelimer’s quarters. He charged into the room without a second thought.

 

“ **Gelimer!!** ”

 

Yong charged at the scientist, but stopped when he noticed Gelimer was wearing something while chuckling at the warrior.

 

“A gas mask?!”

 

“What an idiot.”

 

The room was instantly filled with Retoxin. Yong tried to cover his mouth, but was futile as he had inhaled some of the poisonous gas. He let out a yell as his body became paralysed and fell onto the ground. His face slowly losing its colour.

 

“Did you think I will waiting for you here without making any preparations?” Gelimer sneered.

 

“You… _ *Cough cough* _ ”

 

“Keep quiet. This is a truly important moment.” Gelimer tilted his head a little. “Oh, did you hear that? The beautiful sound of explosions.”

 

Gelimer danced excitedly, ignoring Yong’s glare. “I can erase all of human emotions. This is when the human’s evolution will be completed!”

 

………………

 

Meanwhile, the early morning routine in Edelstein was disrupted when a giant shadow loomed over the city. The confused citizens looked up in the sky.

 

“Teacher, the sky is turning black.” Cutie pulled at Elex’s apron.

 

“Gelimer… Is this…” Elex looked into the black airship in the sky. Tha hatch below the ship opened and countless missiles were dropped onto the panicking city.  There was no escape.

 

“ **Black Heaven…!”**

 

………………

 

“All soldiers, attention! We must detonate Gelimer’s bombs before they hit the ground!”

 

Nineheart’s command did not do much as the soldiers were severely outnumbered by the amount of the bombs that Gelimer unleashed.

 

“There’s too many of them! We can’t possibly-” Belle and Brighton descended into the midst of bombs before Checky get to finish. Checky decided to join in, “Something has to done!”

 

Checky descended further, following Belle and Brighton. Claudine grew more frustrated at the situation. “Augh!  **Gelimer, you this!** ”

 

The bombs was getting closer to Edelstein. The citizens grew more panic, and the children seeked their teacher for comfort. Elex tried to shield his students from the upcoming attack.

 

Back on the Black Heaven, Orchid stood up in the core, her sorrow turning into anger.

 

“Gelimer… You this baldie, how could you do this!”

 

She summoned all her powers, her hand outstretched and an strange aura surrounded her. The bombs stopped their descend as a force field surrounded them. They all turned back upwards and rose back into the skies slowly.

 

“My… My bombs.” Gelimer stared at his screen, starting to feel nervous.

 

Orchid watched as the bombs continued rising until they were all hovering above Black Heaven.

 

“Lotus… The last of our powers, let’s use it here…”

 

Once every single bombs were brought up high in the sky, Orchid began to clench her hand, a surge of energy gathered at her palm.

 

“Gelimer…” Large indentations began to form on the bombs, as if someone was crushing them like aluminium cans. “Your game ends here!”

 

She closed her hands into a fist, and all the bombs detonated in midair, neutralising the Retoxin all together. The soldiers in flight tried to shield themselves from the blast wind caused by the series of explosions while the citizens of Edelstein watched the explosions with mild confusion. The Black Heaven could be seen losing attitude slowly.

 

Back at the core, Orchid was ready to head off, now she only had one thing left to deal with.

 

“Lady Orchid…!” Francis looked lovestruck.

 

“Hide, Francis. I will use the last of Lotus’s power to stop Gelimer.”

 

………………

 

“What, what is going on?” Gelimer slammed his hand on the control panel. “Dang it!”

 

“Your plan ends here, Gelimer…” Yong stood up with great strength.

 

“Hmph! Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself? The poison must have spread through your body now, right? Here’s the antidote. Come and get it if you can.” He held out a conical flask with a purple liquid. He shook the flask while sneering at him. “You can have it if you win this fight. I want to see you try!”

 

Yong tried to lunge at the scientist, but Gelimer pulled out a taser gun. He shot the warrior down before he could even touch him.

 

“Augh. Gelimer…”

 

“Losing to me must have made you angry, right?” Gelimer held the antidote before Yong, taunting him. “How about it? Beg at me and I will give you the antidote.”

 

“Then I rather die.” Yong spat at him.

 

“Oh, how touching. As you wish.” Gelimer threw the conical flask onto the floor, scattering it into million pieces and the contents spilled all over the floor. “Now the only antidote is gone. Hehehehe. I just need to make more powerful bombs. I won’t stop until my research is over! Xenoroids. Hold this one down.”

 

A few Xenoroids entered the room and held Yong down by his limbs and head. 

 

“Computer! After two minutes, all androids will self-destruct.” The Xenoroids started beeping as a countdown. Gelimer boarded an escape pod that he prepared beforehand. “Farewell!”

 

Before Gelimer could take off however, some of the Xenoroids flew off and clung onto his escape pod. Gelimer was not expecting this, “What are you doing?”

 

“Father…” They begged him to take them with him.

 

“Go away! Only I get to escape!” More Xenoroids clung onto his escape pod, trying to get Gelimer to stay. Gelimer grew more frantic, “Wait!”

 

“Take us with you… Father…”

 

“I remembered getting rid of your survival instincts!”

 

“Don’t… abandon us…”

 

“Let go of me! You are all machines! You are supposed to fight and die for me!”

 

Yong, who was free from restraints, got up slowly. _ It feels like they are going to blow up soon.  _ He eyed the lever near Geliner’s escape pod. Painstakingly, he got to the lever with all his might. He wrapped his fingers around the lever.

 

“Wait, don’t pull that lever!” Gelimer tried to stop him. Using the last of his strength, combined with his bodyweight, he dragged down the lever. The alarm blared and the escape pod thrusters kicked off. “No!”

 

The escape pod took off immediately, bringing Gelimer and the Xenoroids with it. Gelimer grew more panic as the countdown had 10 seconds remaining. The escape pod flew out of control. The last thing Gelimer heard, was his own scream as the countdown got to zero. The escape pod exploded, taking the mad scientist and his proud creations down into their graves.

 

………………

 

Back on Black Heaven, the entire place shook violently now that two minutes was up. All the androids on various places self-destructed. Yong looked up from the floor.

 

“Black Heaven… is falling. I have to get out of here.”

 

Yong got up and made his way to entrance, but the Retoxin had cause him to feel lethargic, so the process was slow. In the middle of it, the ship shook once more and knocked him back onto the ground. Orchid entered and was disappointed to find that Gelimer was not around anymore.

 

“Hmph, I’m too late.” She walked forward and faced the pale warrior on the ground, clearly unsatisfied. “Who told you to defeat Gelimer without Orchid’s permission?”

 

Her eyes scanned over his body, then tsked at him, eyes filled with pity and displeasure.

 

“Such a shabby end. Don’t you think it’s unfair? Why do you do this? Just to save others?”

 

Her question was met with a tired but determined glare from Yong. She scoffed at him, “Hmph, you don’t even have the energy to speak. How boring.”

 

She turned and walked towards the exit, but stopped to look back at the warrior. She contemplated for a while.

 

Minutes later, Orchid had Yong’s arm slung around her shoulder, with her jacket covering him and her other arm around his waist. She struggled under his weight and moved to the exit using a shortcut.

 

“You’re so heavy!” She complained as she got him to move his legs so they could move faster. The walkway was rained with debris and they just narrowly missed being crushed by one. She yelped as they dodged it, only to get her feet stomped on by the warrior. She yelled back at him and they continued down the path.

 

When they were near the exit, a few Xenoroids were blocking their way. Orchid gritted her teeth.

 

“Argh, why now of all times?!”

 

The Xenoroids beeped and exploded, leaving the walkway unscathed. She decided to head off like nothing happened. She shook Yong occasionally so he would not drag behind and suddenly fell off the walkway.

 

They arrived at the main deck, which was burning all over. A figure walked out of the smoke, to reveal Athena Pierce who survived her previous fall.

 

“Orchid… You helped Yong?”

 

“Don’t get it wrong, I didn’t save him. He’s heavy, so hurry up and take him.”

 

Athena Pierce took Yong from Orchid’s shoulder and mirrored the way she supported him. When asked what happened, Orchid told her what she know.

 

“He took in too much of Gelimer’s poisonous gas. He won’t last long.” She smirked slightly. “Even if he survived, he will turn into an emotionless, empty shell.”

 

She turned around to leave, but Athena Pierce asked her, “Where will you go?”

 

“That’s none of your business.” Orchid continued her way, but stopped again to mutter, “At his last moments… Lotus thanked you all. Thank you for freeing him from Gelimer.”

 

Athena Pierce watched her retreating figure before taking Yong with her to escape.

 

“Let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

 

Unlike Orchid, Athena Pierce gave him encouragement while they were moving. She tried to ignore all the debris falling around them and got him closer to her. However, they reached the edge of the deck soon.

 

“It’s a dead end…”

 

“So… Tired… “ Yong muttered.

 

“Keep it together! Don’t lose hope! Claudine will save us. I believe in her!” She nodded, trying to reassure the fading warrior. “That’s right, the planes will cry.”

 

“Sorry, all combat planes are all damaged!”

 

Athena Pierce looked around, but Claudine was not in sight. “Claudine?! Where are you?”

 

“Jump!”

 

Without a hesitation, Athena Pierce leaped off the deck, bringing Yong with her. The Crystal Garden ascended from below the deck, catching the two as they landed roughly onto the main deck. Having to rescue their remaining allies, the ship pulled back and Crystal Garden got out from Black Heaven’s perimeter.

 

Explosions occurred all over Black Heaven and everything was consumed in flames. The fire caused more explosion with the gunpowder and ammunition started burning up. Orchid stood on the main deck as she watched the Crystal Garden retreated further from the Black Heaven.

 

“Lady Orchid! We need to escape!” Francis ran up to Orchid, who seemed to be spacing out. He called her again, “Lady Orchid!”

 

For Orchid, she was holding Lotus’s hand and the rest of the scenery went white. Lotus looked back at her with a smile. She bid him farewell and let go of his hands, along with their remaining power.

 

More explosions happened throughout the Black Heaven as it fell from the sky. At the Mechanical Grave, the Black Wings officers ran away from the central tower and out of the graveyard. Black Heaven landed roughly near Mechanical Grave, destroying the central tower in the process. The impact blew some parts of the mountain away, leaving a crater around the ship. Crystal Garden flew it as Black Heaven claimed its own grave.

 

 

War ended at 07:20, skies above Victoria Island

 

The cloudy weather mirrored the Alliance’s thoughts. On the Crystal Garden, they crowded around Yong, who had lost consciousness at this point. He was laid on the deck, eyes closed and his face was a shade paler than paper.

 

“Yong breathed in Gelimer’s poisonous gas…” Athena Pierce explained his condition, loud enough so everyone could hear her. Everyone gasped.

 

“Is there a way to cure…?” Claudine almost dreaded to ask.

 

“Right now… There’s no way…” Athena Pierce’s statement sank in and the waterworks began, especially the Ereve Bowmen siblings.

 

“No… Captain! Captain really fought the hardest!” Dolphy wiped his falling tears. “The war is over… It is over for real…”

 

“Captain… Please wake up! Captain!” Goofy wailed louder than his siblings. “You are stronger than anyone else!”

 

“We didn’t even a proper goodbye…” Leafy said between sobs, “Are you really gonna leave us… Captain…?”

 

In the grim atmosphere, Cygnus suddenly spoke up.

 

“No. Yong will be fine.”

 

Cygnus walked to his side and took out something. The blue gem shone a mysterious yet inviting blue light.

 

“Once a life is lost, the dead cannot be revive no matter what power is used…” She kneeled down to find his pulse. “It’s not too late. He is still breathing.”

 

“That’s…  _ Shinsoo’s Teardrop? _ ” Claudine could not believe what she saw.

 

“...Empress, the Seal Stone has the power to restore the entire Ereve.” Nineheart reminded her. “Shinsoo’s Teardrop is  _ the only Seal Stone left in this world _ . Do you understand what it means to use this?”

 

“Hundreds of years ago, when the Dragon Master made the Seal Stone… He made it with the people’s wish to protect what’s important to them. Are we going to protect the  _ Seal Stone _ ? Or protect  _ Yong _ ?”

 

Finding no faults in Cygnus’s statement, he relented. “... I will respect your will.” 

 

Gathering the Alliance’s wish, Cygnus activated the Seal Stone. A blinding light flooded the ship and covered them in white. “Please stay with us. The world still needs you.”

 

After light faded, feathers flew around in the air and turned into million sparkles. Under the brilliant sky, Yong stood anew. His bright emerald eyes filled with life and colour had returned to his face.

 

“A miracle…!” Leafy gasped.

 

“This is nothing, compared to the miracles that Yong gave us. Right, Yong?”

 

Cygnus flashed him a bright smile, which he returned it with his own smile. The Alliance cheered, as their best warrior returned and the war had ended.

 

………………

 

The clouds at Edelstein dispersed, the morning sun bathed the city once again.

 

“The sky is getting brighter!”

 

“They finally did it… This is great.” Elex patted Cutie’s head, and the citizen became excited at starting their new life without Black Wings influence.

 

………………

 

The smaller ships disembarked from the Crystal Garden, sending their soldiers home. Yong was about to return to Maple Island as well. Before leaving, he decided to bid his allies goodbye, one by one.

 

Athena Pierce was the first, “Everyone is going back to their journeys. I will return to Henesys. I need to train the young ones into bowmen. Although everyone is going back to their home… We get to meet everyone again one day, right?”

 

“I’ll visit you the next time I go to Henesys.” Yong smiled at her.

 

“Really? Elves never forget a promise.” She looked chirpier at the reply.

 

Yong went to bid Claudine goodbye next. Claudine decided to tell her plan upon returning to Edelstein. “The Black Wings are done for. There are some influences remained, but I believe the day Edelstein will be free isn’t far off.”

 

“What are you going to do, once Edelstein is free?”

 

“Me? I never thought about it…” She smiled a little. “... Maybe I will starting dating, just like what Irvine said.” Her face turned solemn, “About Irvine… I told him Martini and Gelimer’s fate.”

 

“What did he say?” His eyebrows furrowed.

 

“‘That’s what happen to bad guys’... was the only thing he said. He didn’t show it, but he may feel a little lonely. Then… We won’t be seeing each other in a while?” Claudine let out a genuine smile. “Thank you. For everything…”

 

He went to greet Nineheart. “I’m glad you’re okay, Yong.” Nineheart said stoically.

 

“You don’t seem glad…”

 

“Nonsense. This already count as my happy face.” Nineheart got serious all of a sudden. “However, there’s something you need to know. The Seal Stone was used to restraint the Black Mage’s power. With the only Seal Stone being used on you… The  **Black Mage** is completely free. The pillar for the world’s peace is gone completely.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry about that…”

 

“No, I agree with the Empress’s decision. You have replaced the Seal Stone as the world’s protector now, haven’t you?”

 

“This means you will get to order me around more.” Yong joked at him. A rare smile painted Nineheart’s face.

 

“Haha… Is that so?”

 

Yong then went to say his goodbyes to Cygnus. A familiar conversation started.

 

“Are you leaving?” Cygnus asked.

 

“......” Yong stared back at her.

 

“That’s too bad. Although the war has end… But we have to say goodbye again. However, this may be just temporary. Gelimer is gone, but the Black Mage is still out there. I’m looking forward to our next meeting.”

 

With that, Yong was prepared to leave for Maple Island. Everyone gathered to see him off. 

 

“Well then… See you next time, Captain.” Goofy saluted. Dolphy started sobbing again, causing Goofy sighed at his little brother. “Don’t cry, Dolphy.”

 

“Stop crying, brother.”

 

“I’m happy to be your ally. We must meet again next time, Captain.” Dolphy managed to say something out in tears.

 

“Well then…” Goofy smiled at Yong.

 

“Take care, Yong.” Cygnus waved at him.

 

“Mind your health until the next time we meet,” advised Claudine.

 

“I’m proud to fight alongside you.” Athena Pierce said sincerely.

 

Yong waved back at them as the ship took off, taking him back to Maple Island, where his friends were waiting for his return.

  
  


 

………………

  
  


 

Somewhere in the commander’s base, Arkarium bowed at the Black Mage, reporting the outcome of the war.

 

“Oh, Great One. Gelimer’s army was defeated. But that was to be expected… The moment he approached us with lies, we could predict his demise.”

 

**“THE AXIS OF FATE HAS BEEN TWISTED.”** The Black Mage’s voice was low with a hint of menace.

 

“...The fate has changed, is it because of  _ that punk _ ?”

 

**“A NEW ENEMY HAS BEEN BORNED, WITH THE SEAL STONE IN HAND.”**

 

“Leave this to me. No matter how strong he is, he is no match against my plans.”

 

**“YOU WILL NOT FACE HIM.”**

 

“Then… are you going to leave it to  **him** ?”

 

A figure stood within the shadows, an eye patch covering his left eye and his right eye closed. His features depicted him as someone that was not human. Pale purple skin with maroon hair, the man wore a black outfit, a red scarf wrapped around his neck. Multiple pairs of eyes shone menacingly behind him. Damien opened his red eye, a smirk painted on his face.

 

**“Now, shall I begin the hunting?”**

 

 

_...The end? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And SCENE! Finally done writing this novelization. 
> 
> It was fun, but I don't think I'm cut out for fiction writing since I started treating it like chasing a deadline for an assignment rather than something to be written for fun. Besides, it took me about 2/3 day to write out a 5000 words chapter. So, I guess this might be the only fic I wrote. Who knows.
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading this fic. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
> 
> Oh right, there's still the epilogue.


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened to Orchid?

Deep in the Ellin Forest where most fairies and spirits recited, Orchid wandered around, in search of someone. A light mist shrouded the place, along with a light drizzle.

 

“Lady Orchid! Wait for me!”

 

Francis finally catched up to her. The girl in question acknowledged his presence.

 

“ _ *pant pant*  _ Lady Orchid, why did you come to this humid place?”

 

“I have something with an old man. Right, why are you following me? The Black Wings has disbanded. There’s no need to follow me.”

 

“But… I still want to serve Lady Orchid.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Of course! It’s because I li--” He suddenly stopped mid sentence. Orchid raised an eyebrow, waiting for his answer. “Li...Li…”

 

“Speak up! Can’t you speak more clearly?” She grew more agitated at his stuttering.

 

“Because...Because I like serving you!”

 

She was unsure if she should believe him or call him out on that. “Hmph… I don’t understand what you’re saying, but it’s up to you. But I will order you around, so be careful!”

 

“Yes, Lady Orchid! But who is this old man you want to meet?”

 

A voice suddenly spoke up.

 

“I knew you will come find me one day, Orchid.”

 

A dignified and ethereal being appeared behind them. His prominent features were made up of wood and moss, shaped to look like a golem with a crown. Special runes adorned his chest pieces.

 

“Be careful, Lady Orchid!” Francis rushed to her front.

 

“Relax, he is the King of Spirits.” Orchid glared at the puppeteer.

 

“Eh? Oh… I thought it was a monster.”

 

Guwaru stared at them wordlessly, then he greeted her formerly. “Orchid, Spirit of Darkness. You broke the rule of being in a human’s body, why do you seek me?”

 

“I need power. Not the one Black Mage gave me, but the true power of the Spirit of Darkness.”

 


End file.
